Lee Smith has posted an essay at Tablet summarizing the decades-long runup to this war in Ukraine. It’s an excellent synopsis — brief, clear, and insightful — and I highly recommend it to you all.
Greed, bluster, folly, and hubris — this story has it all. Read it here.
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We the people don’t dare trust our own government any more than we should Russia’s. This is a thorough summary of some shabby American skullduggery. How we got here is shameful all around. But, events are unfolding and we as Americans have a choice.
Diplomad is talking about this today:
https://thediplomad.blogspot.com/2022/02/and-truth.html
The US and NATO had 33 years to extend a hand of partnership and peace to Russia.
Why is anyone surprised Russia’s patience finally ran out?
Thank you for citing this lucid analysis of the background to the current crisis in the Ukraine. I have been passing on the link to friends.
SITREP:
https://turcopolier.com/what-is-really-going-on-ukraine-an-alternative-scenario/
(And good knowledgeable commentors.)
JK, good stuff. One commenter there ‘looked’ familiar while another was talking a long dead
Slavic centered concept that was the talk of Eastern European academics when the Iron Curtain was still real. I had flashbacks. Other good commenters as well. The reportage diet we are getting in the West seems fanciful at times.
Welcome, Dr. Caiati. I’ve read for many years your conversations with Bill V. over at his place, and it’s nice to have you drop by.
JK, thanks for that link. I’ve reposted it elsewhere in the hope of bringing it to a wider audience.
Thank you, Mr. Pollack. Although I have commented here only once before, dropping by Motus Mentis has been part of my early morning routine for years. Your political commentaries, always insightful and beautifully written, are essential reading for me.
My goodness! Thank you so very much.
I’m afraid my output has tapered off sharply in the last year or so, for three reasons: first, because I have less and less to say that I haven’t already said; second, because I am more and more aware of my insignificance in the great tides and tempests of human affairs; and third, because the more I understand, the more I understand how little I understand.
Russia isn’t bogged down and Ukraine isn’t winning.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10569141/Putin-NOT-crazy-Russian-invasion-NOT-failing-writes-military-analyst-BILL-ROGGIO.html
Good interview with famous realist that really gets to the heart of the matter, I think: https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/why-john-mearsheimer-blames-the-us-for-the-crisis-in-ukraine
first, because I have less and less to say that I haven’t already said; second, because I am more and more aware of my insignificance in the great tides and tempests of human affairs; and third, because the more I understand, the more I understand how little I understand.
I might start my blog back up just to write an elaboration on this. Then shut it down again.
I’m 58 years old and watching the failure of every institution I formerly deferred to, including the Christian Church, has been extremely disturbing. So now I’m back with Malcolm, wondering which fork in the road to take–the more I understand the less I understand.
I’m less disturbed and more saddened by the fact that the same old crap plays out again and again with a new crop of suckers. There are only so many ways to point out: you have to produce before you can consume; men are not created equal; soft times make soft people, etc.
Jason, that has some solid realistic thinking. We seem to be, as a nation, stuck in the Cold War dynamic. Lots of old thinking by people (like me).
Jason,
Thanks for the link. A lot of folks on the Right — for example, BAP, in his recent three-hour podcast on Ukraine — think Mearshimer has it about right.
AG,
I’ve rarely felt less certain about anything and everything in all my 65 (soon 66) years. As I’ve been saying in recent posts, I’m struggling with basic questions of metaphysics and meaning, while at the same time it’s clearer and clearer that almost everything we see in public life is smoke and mirrors.
I do feel, after decades of study, that I have a much clearer understanding of the mechanisms and stubborn facts of politics, and of human nature, than I’ve ever had, and likely better than most people have — but all of that just makes me more and more saddened, just as you say, “by the fact that the same old crap plays out again and again with a new crop of suckers.”
Part of me wants to turn away from the wider world altogether, and just focus on music, reading, family, friends, good health, the natural beauty I’m surrounded by here in the Outer Cape, and trying to answer the question of the existence of God.
But it’s hard not to pay attention as things fall apart all round us, especially with our daughter and grandkids stuck in Hong Kong, our son living in New York City, and the knowledge that if things get bad enough here in the U.S. there will be no safe haven, even here in this little sand-spit in the Atlantic.
I know how he feels:
https://thediplomad.blogspot.com/2022/03/rooting-for-putin-no-but.html