I don’t think it’s washed out when one of those hollow terms had a very specific insurrection
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Hard Power and Soft Power
- Thread starter taxi1
- Start date
The only lutz here besides you is Europe. They talk a big game but every year of the war they’ve spent more money on Russian fossil fuels imports than they’ve given to aid Ukraine.
Ooh, great metric! The US has also spent more in fuel imports every year than our total Ukraine aid. Clearly, we’re all talk.
Know what else has increased more than Ukraine aid under your boy? Deficit spending. Checkmate to Trump.
Not a props to Biden per se, but Trump has an infatuation with the public eye and I would be shocked if would ever opt for “just a phone call” or a closed door meeting. He has an innate need, an addiction, to the press and the viewers. Not to say that this whole thing would have gone differently if it was private - it certainly looks good if it’s public - but when it goes south it looks so much worse when it’s on film and not behind the curtain.
And that is a problem in and of itself . . . something we have a very clear remedy for.Ooh, great metric! The US has also spent more in fuel imports every year than our total Ukraine aid. Clearly, we’re all talk.
Know what else has increased more than Ukraine aid under your boy? Deficit spending. Checkmate to Trump.
We will see how that one plays out. Despite (and in some cases because of) the capricious and hateful actions being played out, I predict continuing higher deficits in the years to come.
I was merely pointing out the “spending more on X vs. Y” argument doesn’t equate to the commitment behind or effectiveness of Y.
The point that Yardstick was making is that Europe imports energy (and raw materials) from Russia despite the war - which goes to the Russian economy. The US doesn’t import oil, and only minimal natural gas, from Russia.Ooh, great metric! The US has also spent more in fuel imports every year than our total Ukraine aid. Clearly, we’re all talk.
Know what else has increased more than Ukraine aid under your boy? Deficit spending. Checkmate to Trump.
The biggest reason for imports is that our refineries, predominately along the Gulf Coast, are set up for heavy, sour crude (tar sands from Canada, or similar from Venezuela.)
Economic dependency on Russia is not wise.
That point is not lost on me. The complications of finding new energy suppliers across Europe are also noted- I was pointing out the fallacy of comparing energy expenses to foreign military aid. A lot of what we spend money on seems to be contradictory, as well. It is not a simple problem.
Would that we had done more in 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea, but we didn’t.
None of that excuses POTUS taking Russia’s side, blaming Ukraine for a war Russia started, causing yet another ugly public spectacle, or threatening tariffs against the EU.
Opportunity lost.
Russia Says Trump’s Foreign Policy ‘Largely Aligns With Our Vision’
Trump’s “political will” could quickly improve the U.S.’ relationship with Russia, the Kremlin suggested.
www.forbes.com
"The Kremlin’s top spokesperson hailed the Trump administration’s foreign policy as being “align[ed]” with Russia"
Who thinks this is a good thing?
No one should…but who listens to the Russians?Russia Says Trump’s Foreign Policy ‘Largely Aligns With Our Vision’
Trump’s “political will” could quickly improve the U.S.’ relationship with Russia, the Kremlin suggested.
"The Kremlin’s top spokesperson hailed the Trump administration’s foreign policy as being “align[ed]” with Russia"
Who thinks this is a good thing?
Is it just me, but I sure miss the Soviet Union of the '80's.
At least I understood them and their strategies, as bad as they were.
One of the main reasons for the war in the first place was because Ukraine was becoming too much of a rival to Russia in terms of Oil and Natural gas being sold to Europe.
Russia had pipelines that went through Ukraine. Before the election in 2014, the leader of Ukraine was effectively a puppet that would do whatever Putin wanted. But after Zelensky was elected, they decided to stop letting Russia use that pipeline for essentially free. Also around that same time, a bunch of surveys were conducted in the Economic offshore zone of Ukraine and they discovered a bunch of oil and natural gas reserves. Ukraine with their current infrastructure, had no way to extract said resources so they turned to American oil and natural gas companies for partnerships to extract them.
Russia didn't like this. They also wanted Sevastopol back firmly under their control so that's why they took Crimea. By doing so, they effectively took control of roughly half of these new deposits. Also some of the contested areas in eastern Ukraine have rare earth metals.
Putin can say as much as he wants about Uniting the former Soviet Union, but ultimately this is about resources and money.
I watched these videos years ago when the conflict started and they're still relevant.
RealLifeLore and CaspianReport have some great videos and they've continued to put out really great content that goes behind the deeper geopolitics. Obviously watch, but verify claims.
Russia had pipelines that went through Ukraine. Before the election in 2014, the leader of Ukraine was effectively a puppet that would do whatever Putin wanted. But after Zelensky was elected, they decided to stop letting Russia use that pipeline for essentially free. Also around that same time, a bunch of surveys were conducted in the Economic offshore zone of Ukraine and they discovered a bunch of oil and natural gas reserves. Ukraine with their current infrastructure, had no way to extract said resources so they turned to American oil and natural gas companies for partnerships to extract them.
Russia didn't like this. They also wanted Sevastopol back firmly under their control so that's why they took Crimea. By doing so, they effectively took control of roughly half of these new deposits. Also some of the contested areas in eastern Ukraine have rare earth metals.
Putin can say as much as he wants about Uniting the former Soviet Union, but ultimately this is about resources and money.
I watched these videos years ago when the conflict started and they're still relevant.
RealLifeLore and CaspianReport have some great videos and they've continued to put out really great content that goes behind the deeper geopolitics. Obviously watch, but verify claims.
No kidding!
Trump. Tucker. Also a good bit of the Republican party, evidently.