03-06-2023, 10:43 PM
If I were forced to give an issue that I'm surprised at the lack of discussion over, it would be the actual impact of what has happened over the last year in Ukraine. Sure, it's been discussed from some angles, but the situation is just something that seemed so unlikely 12 months ago that it's hard to believe it's real.
For ages, Putin was regarded as a leader that was playing chess while every US president was playing checkers for the length of his tenure. He dragged Bush for the issues with Iraq. He basically refused to give Obama and ounce of respect, and Obama returned the sentiment. He was allegedly playing Trump over the pee tape. He tried to start the largest land war in Europe since WW2 on Biden's watch, possibly the biggest display of disrespect he could muster.
Now he looks like a cornered con-man. The Russian army proves itself to be less effective than the Iraqis under Saddam. The only thing left in his bag of tricks is his nuclear arsenal, if it's indeed still functional. One of the only two countries on the planet regarded as a legitimate threat to American hegemony has volunteered to show us that it definitely isn't. It's fair to think that an actual war with NATO would go exponentially worse for Russia than a proxy war with a bordering country that just recently acquired enough tanks to stop having to move on foot to new objectives. The world's boogeyman shot his shot, and it turned out that he was holding a pop gun the whole time.
I know people have mixed feelings on our involvement an investment, but the self-removal of Putin as a serious statesman/bully is a fascinating development to me, and a solid real-time clinic in why autocracy fails every single time if you give it enough rope.
For ages, Putin was regarded as a leader that was playing chess while every US president was playing checkers for the length of his tenure. He dragged Bush for the issues with Iraq. He basically refused to give Obama and ounce of respect, and Obama returned the sentiment. He was allegedly playing Trump over the pee tape. He tried to start the largest land war in Europe since WW2 on Biden's watch, possibly the biggest display of disrespect he could muster.
Now he looks like a cornered con-man. The Russian army proves itself to be less effective than the Iraqis under Saddam. The only thing left in his bag of tricks is his nuclear arsenal, if it's indeed still functional. One of the only two countries on the planet regarded as a legitimate threat to American hegemony has volunteered to show us that it definitely isn't. It's fair to think that an actual war with NATO would go exponentially worse for Russia than a proxy war with a bordering country that just recently acquired enough tanks to stop having to move on foot to new objectives. The world's boogeyman shot his shot, and it turned out that he was holding a pop gun the whole time.
I know people have mixed feelings on our involvement an investment, but the self-removal of Putin as a serious statesman/bully is a fascinating development to me, and a solid real-time clinic in why autocracy fails every single time if you give it enough rope.
