Comments by "Alan Friesen" (@alanfriesen9837) on "Russian invasion of Ukraine Day 7" video.

Hypocrisy is the water we swim in. All sides participate in it, and it's truly unavoidable if you want to participate in global diplomacy. When your side acts it's right and just, when the other side acts, it's heinous, even if it's the exact same thing. It's a lot easier to convince your people that you have the moral high ground than it is to actually have the moral high ground, because committing to the moral high ground keeps you from actually accomplishing your goals.
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@cyanproductions4517 Actually the key to control of the country is control of the countryside. I'm not sure Russia has that either though. Isolating a city from the rest of the country is an effective strategy because it undermines the ability of the provincial seat to manage the region and to care for its people.
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@retired-s5h If Europe and the United States didn't bring NATO to the borders of Russia itself none of this would be happening right now. But now that Russia has invaded its weaker neighbor, it's very hard to put a pretty face on that level of aggression. Perhaps NATO should throw down in Ukraine and let the winner take all. That, of course, would leave Ukraine a smoking ruin regardless of who triumphed in the end. It would, however, answer the question, at least for a while, of whether Russia gets to be a great power and heavily influence their near abroad or whether Russia has to be satisfied with middling power status as all of Europe that isn't Russia falls entirely into the domain of the West.
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