13 major US military bases and 100 nuclear weapons in Europe. Checking now to verify the number of Russian bases and nuclear weapons in Mexico and Canada.
And in February Putin confirmed the need for the US bases in Europe and keeping in mind that all of the US bases that are in European countries are there with the consent of those countries. At one time the argument could have been made that the bases were unnecessary vestiges of the Cold War. Putin's desire to reconstitute the Soviet Union/Russian Empire or at a minimum Russian influence over Eastern European through actions even more so than words has demonstrated why the European countries welcome the presence of Americans. Giving Putin credit he has unintentionally managed to persuade Sweden and Finland, two countries that have been neutral for decades that it is in their self-interest to join the NATO alliance.
Do you not understand the difference in how NATO expands and how Russia expands? NATO's expansion, as a defensive organization, is done without violence. Can Russia say the same? Countries are free to choose not to join NATO, and they will not be killed for making that choice. Are countries free to choose not to join Russia, and will their people die if they say no?
Do the Canadians and Mexicans need to be protected from any nearby country? It's been over 100 years since the U.S. military invaded either of those countries, and the U.S. has gotten along well with those countries for decades. Russia has spent most of the last century threatening or invading their European neighbors, as well as setting up puppet governments.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/natio...gainst-russia-referendums/article65958682.ece India continuing to try to ride the middle - asking for mutual accommodation. The truth about India-Russia: We can’t abandon Moscow Interesting article on why the russia/india relationship is complicated but important for india US warns India on dealing with Russia: “Pakistan is Plan B” Friendship with Moscow costing India with Pakistan, lol, US foreign policy sure has a way of making friends with old enemies really quickly. https://frontline.thehindu.com/worl...-tides-of-the-ukraine-war/article65958364.ece Another nice article on how India's position on the war is changing because of the length of the conflict and pressure from the west. Just some tidbits from Asia - one of the more important and complicated areas in the world right now, geopolitically.
Is that Russia relationship going to still be important to India if Russia collapses into revolution? Because that’s where this is headed, and India is playing a role in sustaining Russia’s war effort instead of peaceably pushing them out of this before it hits a point of no return.
Sweden and Finland have been unofficially NATO forever. Obviously Putin was concerned about what the US has been planning and doing through Ukraine for years. Putin will continue until the US is defeated.
I can see why they feel stuck - I didn't realize Russia provided them with so much of their military equipment.
If I were India, I’d start rethinking whether or not I really need that crap. And at any rate who is going to make it if Russia goes up in flames?
I assume even if this current administration were to go up in flames, which is far from a sure thing at this point, someone else would just step in and continue manufacturing weapons. It's not like Russia is going to vanish from the earth.
The land won’t and the people won’t. The state could (I am not just referring to the current administration as you are). One could fairly assume that revolution would interrupt all industries, including arms, for an appreciable amount of time.
@mtracey · Oct 8 Someone's going to have to explain why the people who were the most hyper risk-averse toward a respiratory virus are now the most cavalierly risk-tolerant toward nuclear destruction Stay Home, Save Lives —> I Stand With Ukraine
