But now, everywhere you look, for the first time the omerta has been lifted: outlets are openly—albeit still in hushed tones—admitting that Ukraine not only faces some vague ‘defeat’, but total capitulation to Russia. Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge | Substack
Not sure where this is going, but Stalin and Mao absolutely started wars outside their own borders. To a lesser extent (because Cuba never was and never will be a great power), Castro was involved in foreign adventures as well. Grenada and Angola come to mind immediately.
I was talking about major wars, ones that could possibly result in defeat. I am not counting aggressive military action with no chance of defeat. Both China and Russia did get involved in the Korean War, with the Chinese supplying massive numbers of troops, but the war was not primarily between China and the U.S., so the U.S. was unlikely to drive to Beijing had it been able to do so.
You didn't say anything about wars until after I pointed out some of the most brutal dictators in the world are communist regimes with a politburo. You mentioned sham elections, opposition being jailed and killed. Pretty sure all of the examples I cited in my previous post fit that bill. You're wobbling all over the place worse than Joe Biden trying to find his way off a stage. Honestly, one would think we'd be less worried about Putin's imaginary goals of repatriating the Soviet bloc given Russia's ineptitude in Ukraine.