Alexander Motyl - Is the Idea that Russia is Too Big to Fail Holding Back Western Strategic Support?
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- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
- Alexander Motyl is an American historian, political scientist, poet, writer, translator, and artist. He lives in New York and is a professor of political science at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. Alexander is a specialist on Ukraine, Russia, and the Soviet Union. He has taught at Columbia University, Lehigh University, the Ukrainian Free University, the Kyiv-Mohyla University, and Harvard University. Aside from academic work, he also writes opinion columns in publications such as Foreign Policy, Forty-Five, The Hill and the Kyiv Post.
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LINKS:
/ alexander-motyl-9847877
sasn.rutgers.edu/about-us/fac...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexand...
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ARTICLES:
thehill.com/opinion/internati...
foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/05/...
thehill.com/opinion/internati...
foreignpolicy.com/2023/01/07/...
euobserver.com/opinion/156539
thehill.com/opinion/internati...
thehill.com/opinion/internati...
thehill.com/opinion/internati...
thehill.com/opinion/internati...
thehill.com/opinion/internati...
thehill.com/opinion/internati...
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BOOKS:
Academic books
The Turn to the Right: The Ideological Origins and Development of Ukrainian Nationalism, 1919-1929 (1980)
Will the Non-Russians Rebel? State, Ethnicity, and Stability in the USSR (1987)
Sovietology, Rationality, Nationality: Coming to Grips with Nationalism in the USSR (1990)
Dilemmas of Independence: Ukraine after Totalitarianism, (1993)
Revolutions, Nations, Empires: Conceptual Limits and Theoretical Possibilities (1999)
Imperial Ends: The Decline, Collapse, and Revival of Empires (2001)
Ukraine vs Russia: Revolution, Democracy, and War (2017)
Bits and Pieces (2020)
National Questions: Theoretical Reflections on Nations and Nationalism in Eastern Europe (2022)
Editor
Between America and Galicia: The Memoirs of Maria and Alexander Motyl (2019)
The Great West Ukrainian Prison Massacre of 1941: A Sourcebook (2016)
The Holodomor Reader: A Sourcebook on the Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine (2012)
Russia’s Engagement with the West: Transformation and Integration in the Twenty-First Century, co-edited with Blair Ruble and Lilia Shevtsova (2005)
The Encyclopedia of Nationalism, 2 vols. (2000)
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NATO should lift ALL restrictions given on the weapons Ukraine has been given. If Kiev wants to send Storm Shadow misslies into the Kremlin, then so be it.
Only problem there is that that may cause mass enlistment by russians and give them a real cause to fight for. I certainly feel your frustration though.
Agree 100%👍👍👍🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
What would you you say if Kiev wants to send nuclear weapons into Russia? Would you send them nuclear weapons? If you are going to act consistent with your principe of no restrictions then you send them. If your answer is no then you have to see that logically there must be restrictions on the weapons that are supplied to UKR.
Bigest problem that Nato have nothing left to give
And we made Russia way stronger than it was before operation started
@@gr4297 Nato is a "Paper Tiger" Same as America, their word is not worth s#*t
Thank you Jonathan. Fascinating guest! Wow! another home run for your program! I really enjoyed the discussion and I come away feeling not so depressed as the press wants us to feel. Now, we must get the Republican Party to pass a funding bill for the continued existence of Ukraine. This is the bigger challenge. Let's pray that this occurs sooner rather than later. Thank you again for such a wonderful program. Slava Ukraine from the US of A!
How could anyone consider Russia "too big." It's population is dwarfed by that of the EU, North America and other Western allies that support Ukraine. And as for it's economy, it is nothing but a miniscule, mafia controlled farce compared to the aforementioned nations. It is also not that big, as it has only been able to hold onto less than 20% of the territory of it's immediate neighbour, even though it has over three times the population. The last thing western governments should do is fear Russia (Putin), and back off from complete support of Ukraine, even if it requires "boots on the ground."
Exactly- we are so wrong to fear it, and let it’s threats limit our actions.
Immediate neighborhood??? 😅 1-2k miles is not an immediate neighborhood
@@dmitryletov8138 WHAT??? Ukraine is Russia's immediate neighbor. ( not *neighborhood* )
Boots on the ground is an awful idea and if they committed the arms necessary totally unnecessary. With the US faltering, the EU really needs to lead the military supply effort for the first time in its history. There is no country they need to worry about attacking them. And if they’re legitimately worried about it, they can quickly replace a lot of their stock through purchasing from South Korea (they can’t buy arms for Ukraine from SK, but they can replace their own) and a collection of other arms exporters for short term needs (EU and especially US arms makers have longer backlogs). France has been especially weak in their arms support for how big their industry and relatively deep their inventory n
'Too big to fail' is due to organizations building dependancies due to laziness, convenience and profit. Business as usual was flushed when russia invaded Ukraine however nations adapt which is the best thing that could happen, shake the complacency out and start developing new things without relying on the one kid who brings the only baseball to the game!!!
: The integrity of Ukraine’s borders is vital for the future of the world….
LMAO!!!
🤣😅🤣😅🤣😅🤣🤣
The world's future does in no way depend on Ukraine, that' nonsense
History teaches that no Nation or people are too big to fail. Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Hittites, Rome, Greece, Sumer, Carthage, Byzantium, Imperial China, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Nazi Germany, Ottomans, Fascist Italy, I could go on. Russia as we see it today is certainly not too big to fail.
Great.I see your very good point of view
If anything (and may I be so blunt to point out that you forgot the largest empire known to exist: the Mongol Empire) most of these countries/empires failed because they were too big!
Don’t forget Mongolia; dwarfed Russia
Very interesting & informative analysis. Thanks for the continuing work that you do to bring very knowledgeable people on your show!
👍👍👍 my pleasure!
I appreciated the optimism in this interview. Without US support the chance of escalation increases dramatically and they know that. 💙💛
Just remember US never cared about Ukraine, it's all about using someone against Russia
Really pleased to see the channel growing. And the extent and quality of the comments is the fruit of your excellent labour Johnathan. Continued good health sir!
Awesome interview 👏🔝👍
Thank you for an excellent interview, gentlemen. Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦
Before I even watch the video: Yes. Fact is though, Gaza is very big storm in very small Tea cup in comparion to Ukraine/Russia. For the media it just something else to refresh the headlines. On Tucker Carlson, "You Cannot Reason People Out of Something They Were Not Reasoned Into"; Jonathan Swift.
Wrong.
Swift was 100% right, I hadn't heard that before.
You can tell the clowns from the serious journalists and analysts by whether they’ve pointed this fact out. What happens in Ukraine will change the world order for decades to come. Israel is just the latest flare up in a cyclical cycle.
Amazingly, writing anything about Hamas got my comment auto deleted. Great job CZcams.
@@The_ZeroLine Mmm. Wonder where the sympathies of the arbi traitors lie.. oops, my spelling.
Amazing viewing !
Great interview with Alexander Motyl. 5 stars👍
I am guessing the Harvard and Oxford historians don't talk to the economists by design. Economists tend to project to a degree that makes fiction of the discipline. Historians have the advantage of evidentiary basis, projection through trends is simply a guessing game limited to economic theories. But congratulations Jonathan, we have the wedding of strange on your channel. Insightful indeed, when the past sees the present through the lens of today's eyes.
Eggxactly! Economists are glorified and exuberant weather forecasters, nothing else.
Zaluzhnyi’s white paper reveals he thinks it’d be a mistake for either side to commit to an offensive currently, which is exactly what 🇷🇺is doing w/disastrous results. Even a stalemate existed, it’s only more reason to provide more arms to change that, especially considering Western “experts” thought 🇺🇦 would last three days and yet they over performed at every turn when given the means to do so.
Nice try. Ukraine barely holding to pre-offensive staging position is NOT STALEMATE.
As an American who has worked in politics and now works as an analysis focused on China and the war in Ukraine, I believe the “too big to fail” aspect is only a minor influence. Domestic partisanship in multiple countries like the U.S. have just turned this issue into yet another political and ideological battlefield. This along with POTUS’ and the mainstream media’s absolute failure to explain that the actual cost of the arms package is an absolute sliver of their stated values.
Arms given to 🇺🇦 have cost tax payers so little because most were paid for in the ‘80s & were retired, retiring or being disposed of at huge expense?
Examples: DPICM, SDBs, MRAPS and HMMWVs were all being scrapped + Avenger retired. The $ values placed on the packages are put at what these systems would cost new and bought today. Seems like they were thinking of foreign optics + political capital and forgot about domestic ones
They’ve also failed to mention how it’s paid for itself 20x over as US weapons performance so out shined Russia’s newest & best systems that our arms industry is getting huge orders from aero to artillery at the expense of 🇷🇺’s market share. All of which = jobs, revenue, etc.
But thats just the view of an accountant it does not include the political cost.Biggest risk for USA is still that they get dragged into a war.And also direct confrontation with Russia was never as close
Also it is not clear if exit strategy from war is achievable as US ,Europe and Ukraine are not on same page should above with war involvement not materialize
I've been a bit confused about that. If we are giving weapons that are old, have been bought and paid for and some are going to be decommissioned, then why does the Ukraine budget not enter in just the general military budget? Why does it need to have a separate budget given to it?
@@goenzoyFollowing the outlook of countries like Latvia, it's not a question *if* we here in the NATO countries will be dragged into this war but *how* strong Russia will manage to get before it happens.
Russia has their eyes on not just Ukraine, but all of the former East Europe countries, as they long for their old empire. At the very least. Several of these former East European countries now being a part of the NATO pact.
@@CarolynAcosta-mw2dlPoliticians like to brag, I guess. So they're used to pulling out the most inflated numbers they can find, with little regard for long term consequences.
@@haraldthiRussia’s material strength is limited. It’s not going to improve, either. Russia’s a shrinking, aging nation that’s chased away or bled out the vast majority of its young talent. The median age in Russia is almost 40. The life expectancy of a Russian male is somewhere in the middle 60s-It’s comparable to a third-world African dictatorship. Russian manufacturing is decrepit & China is growing tired of its antics.
I 100% agree
Another excellent interview, thank you both.
SLAVA UKRAINE from Italy ❤!
Yes. Seems to me there should be more explicit emphasis that US support for Ukraine is a national security issue, not a “foreign aid” issue.
Who has framed you?
@@helgavonschaewen4030 READ THIS, IT´LL MAKE YOUR DAY : "Благодаря невероятно успешной внешней политике путина у нас всегда будут полные холодильники! " - заявил директор Ростовского морга 🇷🇺 ...
Thanks again for the amazing guests you have and your great interviews of them. I'm soaking them up and my ignorance on the subject of Russia is diminishing. I stay away from our dreadful MSM, it's so refreshing to get reality based information from peoplecho know what they are talking about including in the comments.
👍
Russia (USSR then) certainly wasn’t concerned about whether the US was too big to fail during the Vietnam War.
Excellent interview. High quality channel. Great job! Glory to Ukraine!
Yep!
Excellent conversation. Really enjoyed hearing how Alexander interprets things.
I wonder how Konstantin would respond to this conversation and if he would add anything?
This guy is one of the best guests you have interviewed his insights are amazing very deep insights to all the angles
How do you get such incredibly high quality guests, Jonathan? Wads of cash? Kompromat? 🙂🙃
Neither - it’s my charm and powers of persuasion. Joking aside - not a single guest has every asked for payment. That’s a testament to the incredible generosity of the experts, all the Ukrainians and CZcamsrs who are so very supportive.
@@SiliconCurtainand, dare i add, they know on your channel the questions will be inspiring and they can fully explain complex ideas. You have a gift, it seems.
Very interesting thoughts and insights, thank you Jonathan and Mr. Motyl
Lots for me to go away with and process too!
Thank you for an insightful, interesting and informative interview. Slava Ukraini 🇬🇧🇺🇦
Not rants not ravings. Thankyou!!
Brilliant
Loved listening to (rants and ravings) Alexander Motyl, so erudite, that it warms the soul.
Thank you for uploading and sharing.
❤
Yet another excellent speaker. Very interesting what he said.about Tucker Carlson. Alexander seems to possess an impressive gravitas, of both his knowledge and area of expertise
It was refreshening to hear somebody provide an explanation of why the realists might be going down the path they do. I hope for Mershenheimer’s children/grandchildren’s sake that he at some point puts his ego aside and starts to make realistic sense. I would love to hear Prof. Motyl’s take of the the late Stephen f cohen. Was he a prisoner of his own ego aka mershenheimer or simply an ahole aka Tucker f.
The so called Realists are misnamed, if they believe that everything is a clash of civilizations and all that matters is raw naked power, well then surely backing Ukraine as a proxy to bleed Russia's power would be a good thing especially with it's tenacious resistance, right? But no, they advocate abandoning Ukraine, so- They are not Realists they are more aptly named Hypocrites or I'd prefer- Traitors.
He came round to the idea of aiding Ukraine last year, but I wouldn't be surprised if he changes his mind again.
@@hazzardalsohazzard2624 It probably depends on who's paying him for what spiel.
Thank you for introducing me to Alexander Motyl.
Thank you!
Always worth listening to Professor Motyl's analysis.
Excellent interview, enlightening as always Jonathan. Silicon Curtain is without peer in its analysis of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine.
👍👍👍
DATELINE KYIV OBLAST
Gentlemen,
Thank you. This was an incredibly enlightening dialogue. Keep those cards and letters coming.
V/r - IB
An American in Ukraine
(2019 - 2023)
UKRAINE : [THE OTHER] "LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE!"
УКРАЇНА: "ЗЕМЛЯ ВІЛЬНИХ ТА ДІМ СМІЛИВИХ"
СЛАВА УКРАЇНІ! | СЛАВА ЗСУ! | ГЕРОЯМ СЛАВА!
👍👍👍
Great interview, thanxalot. I'd like to point to Alexander Stubb, the former Primeminister of Finnland, now Professor for International Politics, also on CZcams. He has produced a great serie of lectures about the ongoing war.
Motyl...Dedicated to Facts and Hope for Ukraines victory.
Great presentation, very well put together thoughts and reasoning.
That was a great interview, thank you.
Thank you for such an informative interview.
An intriguing and insightful conversation. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Today I heard on the Telegraph podcast that putin was running as an independent and that there was going to the introduction of electronic voting. I don't know how this ties into everything but some say it will be easier to manipulate votes. However that doesn't ever seem to have been a problem in the past.
What a brilliant conversation! 2 thumbs up.
👍👍
Other great episode. Thanks
Thank you for this extraordinarily sharp and wonderfully uplifting interview!
Informative.
Another great view of what I see as truth from people that has seek the truth. I cannot help from being older but I am. RESPECT
Very good,I must say.
It depends what you mean by "fail". Putin does not seem to think that but said he was worried that Russia could cease to exist. Or at least he's pretending to think that.
💛💙💜💙💛 thanks, Jonathan!
great interview!! 😊❤
🇺🇦 🌏 🇺🇸
Thank you so much for sharing this insight into the Russia - Ukraine war. We remain hopeful! 🇺🇦🫶🇺🇦🫶🇺🇦 Best wishes from Norway
Putin in the refrigerator has echoes of Lenin.
WISE AS ALWAYS..LOGICAL MAN.
I also have an idea: take a look at the level western production of weapons, before having a lot of ideas on what people's ideas are!
Looking at Russia's history, one could argue that defeat in war is THE catalyst for internal reform and development.
Definitely
Nazi germany tought the same as russia does. We all know how that went
Yes,Germany lost the war due to Russia.
@@tomschmid582only because of massiv help from the west.
@@Wintage1073Russia had entered and gained control of Berlin nearly three weeks prior to Patton and team arriving. They had already implemented searches for war criminals and appointed new Mayors by the time Patton arrived. To say only because of the West is disingenuous simply because of the amount of land mass that Russia had to occupy to get to Berlin. I will agree that the only reason you and I are not typing in German is because it was the collective effort of the west and Russia, clearly not one or the other. Russia’s sacrifices to end World War 2 were far greater than any country. In comparison 8.5 million Russian casualties vs U.S. casualties: 405,000 killed, 600,000 wounded. Who saved who???
In the final tally, America sent its Russian ally the following military equipment:
400,000 jeeps and trucks
14,000 airplanes
8,000 tractors
13,000 tanks
More than 1.5 million blankets
15 million pairs of army boots
107,000 tons of cotton
2.7 million tons of petroleum products (to fuel airplanes, trucks and tanks)
4.5 million tons of food
But I guess you call this “Disingenius”, right?
Source: it.usembassy.gov/america-sent-gear-to-the-ussr-to-help-win-world-war-ii/
Or here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease
And by the way Russia has only recently ended paying from WW2 Lend-Lease. Yes you read correctly. So even Putin accept this fact.
@@tomschmid582 russia could not have done much without the help from the west. Btw stalin had a pact with the nazis and the communists were no better than the german nazis.
I am not an academic and I am not a liberal. I consider myself an American who looks at foreign relations from the American perspective. I am for supporting Ukraine because their people have shown a willingness to fight for their country against the Russians and because I think it best that Russia be kept as far from the European plains as possible. However, Europe needs to recognize this is their back yard and the United States is no longer a bottomless pit of money. We are in fact insolvent. If we were a company we would be either in bankruptcy or receivership. We cannot afford to pay for our own defense, much less anyone else's anymore. We need to get our budget house in order. What difference does it make whether Putin is dead, I see no reason to believe that Russian policy is going to change vis-a-vis Ukraine, unless the entire regime collapses and even if it does history does not suggest that what replaces it will be any better. The Russians are simply too use to a system of governance from the top down. To expect them to change is unrealistic.
You sir are a real realist, not like those other frauds and traitors.
I agree that European countries need to step up their defense spending but, despite the existence of the EU, Europe is not monolithic. Some countries will respond to this threat, more so than others.
And then their is the possibility to go to the négociation table , having respect also for the préoccupations of Russia. This way would go straightforward to peace without any more costs. Strange that most of Americans don't think about this solution. It would be not so good for their hegemony desire, but better for the rest of the world.
Are you a Russian bot or just a moron. The US has no desire for hegemony. In fact, its people are fed up with having to be the damn world's policeman and fireman. We would prefer that everyone just got along with each other's neighbors. Unfortunately, Russia doesn't seem to ever be happy unless they are invading and bullying their neighbors. In case you missed it, Ukraine didn't invade Russia, Russia invaded Ukraine over a decade ago.@@attentionarapeller
@@attentionarapeller No, it would be a disaster to reward naked aggression and lead to further conflict.
It's amazing that you don't seem to grasp this basic lesson from history.
There is no Thanks button. I wanted to contribute a token amount.
02:14 🌐 Russia's strategy involves creating chaos and unrest globally to further its agenda.
03:24 🏭 Russia's economic model relies on exporting raw materials, encouraging an authoritarian rule.
04:46 💼 Russia's promotion of multilateralism is seen as a guise for state competition, undermining liberal democratic values.
05:54 🌐 The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is not just regional; it's an existential struggle reflecting a clash of values akin to historical conflicts.
09:22 🤔 Realist foreign policy theorists often overlook internal factors and values, focusing solely on state interactions.
13:50 🕵 The video of Putin's recent oration, potentially discussing him in the past tense, raises questions about his health and the internal dynamics of the Russian elite.
19:16 🔄 Rumors of Putin having doubles and the claim of his death contribute to the complex narrative surrounding internal Russian politics.
22:41 ⚖ Internal divisions within the Russian elite, hinted at by events like the Pugin incident, may impact Russia's focus on the war in Ukraine and its potential resolution.
23:48 🚀 Despite uncertainty about Putin's status, Russia's aggressive actions in the war have been on an escalation autopilot, regardless of who might be in power.
26:33 🇷🇺 Putin's system is described as fascist, totalitarian, or Stalinist, with hyper-centralization, aggression, mendacity, and imperialist aspirations.
27:16 🇺🇦 Russia's ambitions extend beyond Ukraine; other neighboring countries like Belarus, Poland, and Kazakhstan should be concerned.
28:42 🌐 There's a failure of strategic imagination, reminiscent of the pre-Soviet collapse, where Russia is perceived as too big to fail.
30:42 ⚖ Western hesitancy in fully supporting Ukraine stems from the belief that Russia must survive, impacting the approach to the conflict.
32:47 ⚔ Incrementalism in supporting Ukraine risks a never-ending stalemate and may increase the overall risk of the conflict spreading to more regions and countries.
34:36 🇺🇦 If there is a perceived stalemate, negotiating a deal now is more prudent than waiting, considering the potential future decline in Western support.
41:02 ☯ A decisive defeat of Russia is crucial for prompting a fundamental rethink of its ideology, culture, and political system.
42:37 💼 A defeated Russia is likely to see a power struggle, with potential for a more reasonable, democratic, or quasi-conservative leadership coming to power.
45:37 🌍 A weakened Russia focused on internal issues would likely be less aggressive, providing relief to neighboring countries.
47:25 🔍 The irregular warfare strategy involving assassinations and drone attacks in Ukraine continues, often with local collaboration.
51:47 ⚖ Despite significant losses, Ukraine has the capability to continue offensive actions, and a reduction in Western support may shift strategies but won't eliminate Ukrainian resilience.
52:15 📊 Despite significant Ukrainian losses, estimates suggest Ukraine has inflicted much higher casualties on Russia, indicating a favorable imbalance.
53:23 🌐 Cautious optimism stems from factors beyond the battlefield, including Ukrainian resilience, commitment, morale, and the perceived brittleness of the Russian regime.
54:44 🤝 Ukrainian side shows less fatigue, losses, and brittleness compared to Russia, especially in terms of personnel and military equipment.
55:12 💪 Incremental Western assistance, though not optimal, has allowed Ukraine to manage the conflict, with potential for further surprises in the South, possibly leading to the collapse of the Russian front in Kiran province.
I just found you but I noticed I want your channel on my daily read .
16:22 If Putin is in the refrigerator, would he say hello to Boris Johnson for me?
🤣🤣🤣
I really appreciated the insightful depth on some interesting speculation, I really share the impression of a calculus on a balanced win, or the prevention of the disintegration of the Russian federation, it is intriguing to appraise the western lean on Russian expats in a post Putin Kremlin, I can imagine the political will to balance CCP ambition during such times has at least a few teams doing such calculus, seems like a world order has been suckerpunched, I also hold esteem in rules based economies, and democracies are more supportive of things not allowed in Russia, China N.Korea, Iran. Among notable associations... I am reminded of the lords' quote, immediately following a landmark speech of Winston Churchill, " .... he just mobilized the English language ".... the net value of individual participating citizenry, combined with corporate cultures with shareholders of beneficiary societies, vastly out numbers the hostage constituents held by such named regimes , I guess my point is that the Churchill quote has real life analogy now, with the spirit of western solidarity , mobilization of the English-speaking world brought an end to ww2, and its influence shall have baring on the preservation of an allied society with advanced impressions on more people on earth, even immigration issues are a symptomatic of a so called post colonial globalization, western civilization has its own colonial hands bloodied, yet the preservation, rather the tenacity of surviving cultural identies flavor a diversity of western adapted cultures, in a multi racial economic environment....such that I believe to be formidable for the longterm standard of stability of the evolution of western civilization, when I saw Trump and Putin , it strikes a parallel, Trump treats so many of his devotees like the Russians value cannonfodder , ....
Those 2 Have no idea what the Russians are doing in Ukraine 🙄.
It's common to confuse 'Russia' as a country versus as a federation of bickering mini-states. Ukraine was a major driving force within the USSR. As for the remaining Russian Federation: it has its inertia via its size and left-over assets inherited from the USSR. Yet it is unstable and will decay with time if not break apart. Just look at the Russian space program where they can't afford to pay the rent on Boikonur in neighboring Kazakhstan. Even India is passing Russia to the moon.
And of recent, Russia is left begging North Korea for help.
I lived in the Soviet Union in the 80s and 90s the real catalyst in destroying my country what's a cowboy actor named Ronald Reagan!
16:17: "in the meantime the real Putin has been residing in a refrigerator" - 😁
How quickly we forget. There have always, since the very early days of this war, been talk about a never ending stalemate. This comes from a desire to reach a conclusion : get this over with, so we can get back to _business_ . These, I feel, are the same voices that are quiet proponents of 'realist' thinking about international relations. They have always advocated taking actions that lead to Russia's victory.
The ‘doubles’ thing seems otherworldly…except I remember the weekend after the failed move by Pregoshin - ‘Putin’ flies to Rostov, gets out of a plane to greet the crowd…and has ear lobes that extend to his jawline and that the whole ear covers nearly 1/3 of the side of his head. Even if you didn’t know who Putin was, you would remark that the person you were looking at had immense ears….so I started looking at other photos of ‘Putin’, and old photos show a man with unremarkably sized ears…. I hate ending with ‘I am just asking questions’, or ‘there is something going on here’, but it was shocking…
So was the Titanic
Soviet Union was even bigger, but it felt.
It FELL? 😆
There are a number videos that show Putin always a large distance away from visitors and that visitors need to be quarantined for a week. Yet there are videos of Putin hugging students, in amongst people in his visit to Mariupol, his visit to a technical company where he drew a doodle on a board, a visit to a tank factory. All this gives rise to the theory that he has body doubles. It has been mentioned numerous times that Putin is fearful of contacting covid which is why he always sits at a long table at a good distance form his visitors. There are a number of videos comparing Putin's face, chin with various pictures of him in various places which have pointed out differences.
well I think Russia's neighbours will be intervening in Russian internal affairs in the fturue, most notably the Turks, Iranians, the CHinese, NATO EU,
Ukraine has come a long way since the start of the war in late Feb 2022 when many foreign analysts forecast Urkaine would be overrun and defeated by Russian in a few days or weeks to now where the Ukrainians are doing major offensive to take lost territory while the Russians are trying to hold on to what they conquered noting the Russians still have a superior(in terms of firepower, manpower number of vehicles and equipment) army and a way bigger GDP vs. Ukraine. Ukraine is not only holding on but actually retaking lost territory and have stalemated the Russians, that is a MASSIVE ACHIEVEMENT.
Russia would say that a deal would be a victory. A few years down the line they would move further into Ukraine and gradually be on the Polish borders. Inch by inch, stealthily and not stealthily they would influence Europe and take over everything that is represented by democracy.
That is a huge lie. They are already shown as a country opposed to life as we in the West know it..We are tired of threats from Nations like the former Soviet Union making us believe that we are done for...No we're not!.We have wonderful memories of how we enjoyed life with just goodness wherever you would find it.Citizens respected each others wishes and there were people who were considerate.We had no fear to go out and we were a whole lot safer...The ❤ to be revived to live as we should starts here.😊
Increasing overall casualties,particularly in Moscow& other big cities,will turn the public against the regime,
Sooner or later.
The attitude of 'not caring' will Come to a turn,and a domino will occur,throughout the country,..Also,the domino May start in the frontlines,with chains of surrender incidents..
People caring ,increasingly,about their family and themselves,will bring about a change.
That's why conscripts have mostly come from ethnic minorities in rural eastern areas. More scattered, less communications technology and more of a tradition of fatalism, so the families of the dead are less likely to get together. The urban West remains relatively untouched.
You’re almost at 60k 😊
👍👍👍
🙈
60k sheep?
I would like to see a battle with Scott Ritter, that would be interesting
The argument is quite simple. Russia did not spread the wealth during the past 25 years, so how can you trust their concept to work in the future. When they can provide firewood and flushing toilets we will reconsider their capabilities.
Something I don't heard talked about much, is the economic impact of all those russian losses. Everyone repeats so much that russia can just throw more people into meat waves, but realistically they can't. There will come a point when russia will have to start shutting down factories and their infrastructure will start collapsing simply because the men trained in certain jobs are dead, and the women being sent to replace them don't have that accumulated knowledge, and honestly can't work as hard as the men could. In some jobs you would need 2 or 3 strong women to do the same work as one average man. Added onto that the culture in russia which is much more traditional, and women are trained and used to and it's culturally accepted for women to stay home and take care of children.
I recently saw something about russian women being pushed into what were once traditionally male roles, because russia doesn't have enough men to fill those positions. THAT ALONE will have a huge impact on russian culture. Possibly an even stronger impact than it had in america after WW2, because you have a large cultural movement in the west talking about women having a career, and russian culture saying that is wrong. So when those women go work those traditionally male jobs, and are still told they can't or shouldn't do it, that will break that aspect of the propaganda, and if one aspect if broken, it's far easier to break others.
Experts say that it should not really cost the west so much to support Ukraine, because they could give them a lot of material that has to be renewed in thier arsenal anyway. This is not put forward to the public, especially in the US.
Great story re “the double”. Hope it’s true! Can see it making a good movie one day.when all this is behind us
👍👍👍
It’s not too big to fail in the sense of physical size but in significance in its capacity to produce and trade goods and services. The West is afraid of an independent, stronger Ukraine as it might eventually perhaps overwhelm its smaller neighbors like Estonia, and it is also prolonging Putin’s war in order to reward the politically-influential donor class in the US that manufactures weapons and heavy artillery with long-term, consistent and predictable war profits which means that it is willing to not prevent Putin from turning Backmut into Mariupol or Bucha. The West also hopes to prevent the resourceful Ukrainians from cleaving Putin’s Moskovskia into a truly failed, and chaotic state which would preclude any hope of establishing it as a robust trade partner. For these three compelling reasons, it’s lazily delivering inferior in quality and in number of armaments to Zelenskiy.
I've previously suggested that you have Mearsheimer on your show. I think now I is a fabulous time to do just that. It would obviously tie in very well with this episode!
Mearsheimers views are already well known. I'm much more interested in hearing original perspectives.
@@terryhand that's a fair point of view. I'd be interested in having someone actually challenge Mearsheimer. He gets a free ride anywhere he shows up!
It is difficult for Maersheimer and realists to overcome their blindness. Difficult or not, it is their DUTY as scientists to take into account realities that do not agree with their hypotheses. Their behaviour is just a case of unscientific negligence.
Social scientists do not take realities into account. If they did, they'd realise that the west is losing the fight to effect regime change in Russia. 'Resistance is futile....'
Good report. Is is, "commented," or, "commentated"?
Could it be that putin is infact kaput and patruscev is pulling the strings with a view to waiting for an opportune time to announce his death when patrushevs position will be safe?
This is on the extremist end of conspiratorial analysis- but I have heard several Russia language commentators say just these things…
Interesting interview! One thing I don’t fully understand is the thing about realism. I’m probably not educated enough to understand that part. Tried to google realism but I don’t really understand anyway. How do that way of thinking impact the war?
Too big to manage successfully.
The viability of a great civilizational state is not a current question. It is a societal question tested year after for a thousand years. Russia was not born yesterday. Given all the extreme tests it has survived from revolution to a war which killed almost 1 in 5 Russian, to ask this question today is not really serious.
It’s way past time for citizens of the ‘democracies’ to question which of our ‘representatives’ are owned by whom…
Tell that to all the Chinese dynasties that were, in their time ‘too big to fail. History is cyclical if people bother to look into it!
Of course the risk increases the longer this takes.
Love this show but wish you wouldnt use the blurred background,it never looks good in my opinion.
How is internal instability in a large nuclear weapons state a good thing? @44:50
Stalemate is not just a narrative. It’s a particular outcome in chess. The options are three - a win for white or for black and a loss for black or for white and a stalemate for white and black. Point is that these are outcomes not explanations (narrative). Stalemate is the outcome of the summer counter attack. Words are signs of concepts. Stalemate is the sign of a concept of a particular result. It’s not a narrative which continues endlessly/circularly. Realizing the utility of drawing a conclusion/result, Zaluznyi points out the right course of action is to reset the pieces and add a wunderwaffe. Without a wunderwaffe the sides play out to another stalemate. The definition of insanity being ….