Comments by "Alan Friesen" (@alanfriesen9837) on "John Mearsheimer On Who Gains The Most From The Ukraine-Russia War u0026 What Could End Putin's Assault" video.

@starbase218 Yes, very few westerners understand what Russia is fighting for. Russia has watched its influence wane in eastern Europe steadily since 1991. When the Soviet Union collapsed and Russia took on the trappings of a democracy the country became necrotic and weak. At the beginning of the current century Russia began repairing the damage of the Yeltsin administration, but it did so at cost of liberal democratic values. At the same time NATO was expanding east and the countries that Russia had some influence in were having that influence squeezed out by a combination of examples of western affluence, negative historical memory, and pro-western and anti Russian messaging and political support by the United States and her allies. Russian concerns were ignored by a western polity that viewed Russia as weak, corrupt and increasingly authoritarian. In short, the west was demonstrating that it had no respect at all for Russia. What's happened now is that Russia perceives itself as strong enough to push back, at least in a third country. Russia found success against the west in Syria, and hoped that they could similarly find success in the largest European country outside of Russia that wasn't already in NATO's bed. What Russia is fighting for is Great Power Status. If they win this war, they will continue to be a great power. If they lose this war, they will be relegated to middling power status. And while most westerners feel that Russia should be content with middling power status, President Putin and his allies within Russia will not allow this if they can prevent it by any means at their disposal. I don't know if the Russians are considering this in their calculus, but accepting middling power status not only means extreme loss of prestige, but it also means increased vulnerability to American state-breaking operations like promotion of color revolutions and/or establishment and support of ethnic nationalist movements. Losing this contest really is an existential threat. This is not to say that one should side with Russia in this conflict. While the Russians are understandably fighting for their status, and in the long run their survival, in the world, the Ukrainians are fighting for their homes, their people, their territorial sovereignty, and their survival in the short run. In my opinion one should always have a degree of sympathy for the invaded over the invaders, all else being equal. I do think it's okay to sympathize with one side over the other, but it's important to understand the reasons both sides have for fighting, and to understand it at a level a step above declaring the leader of a side to be a monster or crazy or a puppet, etc. There are justifications for the actions of all parties.
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@starbase218 It can gain you respect, the same way that pulling out a gun in an argument gains you respect. It's unlikely to gain you good will.
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@starbase218 You do if you're in the room with them. No, I get what you're saying that you don't think much of people who resort to violence, but you have to respect their ability to harm you (or someone you care about), the same way you respect a bear or the ocean. If you don't respect that capacity, then you are likely to get hurt or worse.
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@starbase218 I know that we can be obtuse. We're very good at believing our own hype which has led us to making some very insensitive decisions in the world. Because of our strength those decisions have led to a lot of pain worldwide. As Americans, the blood is on our hands, whether we want to notice it or not. Setting all that aside, like any society we have our virtues and our vices. One of our greatest vices is our exceptionalist view of ourselves. You referenced the "greatest country in the world" trope. We are a great country, but we definitely have our peers. I've only been to China, Korea and Canada outside the United States. I don't think we are categorically better than any of those countries. They certainly felt every bit as great as the United States when I was there. None of them are as powerful as the United States (Though China's getting close), but I think that's a different argument. I love the United States, I love being an American and I generally don't dodge bullets walking down the street, at least not on weekdays. I'm quite proud to be an American, even if I'm sometimes ashamed of some of the things we do. I do try to respect other countries and the people that live and/or originate from them. This can mean respecting the patriotism of citizens of countries taking actions that I'm not entirely on board with. It also means empathizing with all those being hurt, whether that's Ukrainians watching their homes and families perish in front of them, Russian soldiers walking through a town wondering which of these civilians is suddenly going to pull out a rifle, European townsfolk wondering how they're going to heat their homes this coming winter, Yeminis trying to navigate another year of hellish chaos, Libyans risking a Mediterranean crossing in a plastic tub, Rohingya hiding in the jungle to avoid the next massacre, Sri Lankans in need of medicine that's not coming, Haitians beaten like cattle by U.S. border patrol cowboys, Ethiopians staring famine in the face. Now I've forgotten what my original argument was. I do think we can do better, but we probably won't. I know we've all got challenges of one degree or another approaching. Maybe someday we'll get better at working together rather than trying to promote our agenda by intimidating each other. Until then, Good Luck.
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