I have made my position clear that America should not be involved.
Putin did describe the entire ukrainian identity as illegitimate and made plain that his goals go well beyond addressing credible security threats.
NATO and America do pose a credible threat to Russia. Russia has legitimate reasons for the military operation. This is all standard western nationalist paleocon talking points, the "tuckerite" position. But Putin distanced himself quite clearly from that position.
I am in the company of Dugin and numerous other experts in concluding that Putin made a broader case for Russian regional power than merely challenging nato creep and rescuing russian communities improperly placed in ukrainian territory.
I think we have to read a bit more between the lines here. I think all the history and talk of Ukrainians really being Russians are essentially just justification to the people of Russia, with the threats posed by Ukraine possibly joining NATO being the real reasons. Yeah the Russian people don't like NATO, but that alone just wouldn't do it for them. Russians are used to fighting wars that are viewed as existential in nature. And thus, the Kremlin has framed it as such not in boring geopolitical terms, but in historical and cultural terms. Propaganda 101. Like you said, Putin doesn't care about justifying this war to the world, and even less to western right wingers, he cares about justifying it to his people. And it's smart. If anything this should be emulated. Viewing things in terms of historicism is essential.
I have made my position clear that America should not be involved.
Putin did describe the entire ukrainian identity as illegitimate and made plain that his goals go well beyond addressing credible security threats.
NATO and America do pose a credible threat to Russia. Russia has legitimate reasons for the military operation. This is all standard western nationalist paleocon talking points, the "tuckerite" position. But Putin distanced himself quite clearly from that position.
I am in the company of Dugin and numerous other experts in concluding that Putin made a broader case for Russian regional power than merely challenging nato creep and rescuing russian communities improperly placed in ukrainian territory.
I think we have to read a bit more between the lines here. I think all the history and talk of Ukrainians really being Russians are essentially just justification to the people of Russia, with the threats posed by Ukraine possibly joining NATO being the real reasons. Yeah the Russian people don't like NATO, but that alone just wouldn't do it for them. Russians are used to fighting wars that are viewed as existential in nature. And thus, the Kremlin has framed it as such not in boring geopolitical terms, but in historical and cultural terms. Propaganda 101. Like you said, Putin doesn't care about justifying this war to the world, and even less to western right wingers, he cares about justifying it to his people. And it's smart. If anything this should be emulated. Viewing things in terms of historicism is essential.