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Putin warns that Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets
(www.washingtonpost.com)
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this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2024
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Basically, Russia is winning soundly in Ukraine right now, and they have situation under control. Rapid escalation creates more uncertainties, so Russia has been avoiding doing that. The reason the west is escalating is precisely because they're losing and they're starting to panic. However, Russia also has to show that there are red lines, and looks like one has just been crossed.
Agree. But I think a lot of that escalation is only possible because Western masses are too comfortable, sitting in their sofas and enjoying this war as if it's some football game. If the pain was felt back home, and people were protesting daily against sending more arms to Ukraine, I doubt they could keep escalating like this.
While that's true, the flip side is that things can quickly escalate to a nuclear holocaust that way. So, I'm personally glad that Russia is playing things cool here.
While I'm glad for Russia's strategy so long as it works out well for them and the global south (which by all means it seems to be doing), I do feel that Russia's prudence has been- naturally- mistaken for weakness by the west.
Frankly, I don't think the hegemonic, "end of history," totalitarian and wholly unhinged neocon mindset rampant in the upper echelons of the west can understand any language other than force at this point (and even then, that might just as well lead to disaster). We're dealing with the nuclear-armed, thoroughly malicious human equivalent of rabid dogs here- and (while I'd hope to question whether the rank and file would allow it to get that far) if they think they can and must burn the world down rather than lose their empire- if they think they'll get away with it, even if their own citizenry and countries burn in the process- I genuinely expect they'd try, and that this seems to be what they're increasingly working towards, one last ditch explosive attempt (or multiple) to hold the world hostage with their terrorism.
I think there will come a time- if we're not there already- where Russia (and China, Iran, etc) will have to question if playing it cool, and avoiding escalation on their part, is actually serving their interests of reducing escalation overall- or if it is just emboldening the west to push further and further than it ever would have if it had been properly cowed in the first place. Of course, that's also supposing that the western system and institutions has the capability even, within itself, to be properly cowed anymore (and if not, how to disarm and neuter the beast of empire before they can bring the world down with them), after 500 years of terrorism and the last few decades of outright unquestioned hegemony with all the arrogance and rot going into overdrive.
I'm sure these questions are already being asked already, by far smarter and more informed people than myself, in all these countries and across the leadership of the global south. I just hope that there's a solution to all this.
Considering western response to the Yemenis blockading western shipping it does seem like force can get them to stop. If everyone did it at once they may lash out, but perhaps if it's more gradual it may be possible to stop them.