Comments by "andy99ish" (@andy99ish) on "Is the West to Blame for Russia's Invasion? - TLDR News" video.

@jbolanowski1 You are arguing with co called soft factors, which is fine. Unfortunately you have missed that Mearsheimer does the same - he factors in Russia's perception of NATO being a threat. The problem with feelings is this, that everyone has them. Which the rather emotional Slavic nations tend to forget.
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@timothyoreilly6571 You should learn to discern between realism and cynicism: As any realist knows soft power is of paramount importance. Unfortunately you are abandoning a cornerstone of US foreign policy when it was still reasonable and effective, namely the importance of projecting righteousness and dependability. No wonder you are not winning any wars anymore. The current fact that Russia is invading a NATO candidate speaks volumes too. And please get your facts rights: Poland's military spending is among Europe's highest. Poland it is not a poor country. Russia's economy if adjusted as proper for purchasing power is Europe's fourth. If you want to keep playing global power, you have to get some basic knowledge about the world with its many, many countries.
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Even a sovereign country cannot ignore its neighbors and their concerns. Unless it enjoys the rare status of being much stronger than everyone in its region. That the Ukraine after having gained independence wanted to join an alliance perceived as being anti-Russian by Russia was a strategic error. (To those who are offended by reality: Let me assure that my dream world looks much better than reality).
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@Jack-fw4mw Are you aware that the US stationed Jupiter missiles in Turkey first and that the Soviet attempt to put theirs on Cuba was a RESPONSE to that ? The American pattern is provoke the opponent and then get excited that he reacts. As much as the USA has a political system superior to many other countries, its foreign policy is mostly amateurish.
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@jbolanowski1 Again - realists do not ignore feelings, they just do not judge upon them. Mearhseimer's point is, that the ways empires behave is to some extent similar, whatever their ideological foundations are. This, as any generalization, by definition is not fully accurate, nor does it explain all aspects of reality. But it is a useful framework to understand what is happening now: Countries afraid of Russia joined NATO and Russia is afraid of NATO. NATO in the last two and a half decades expanded greatly and is ready to expand into the Ukraine. Ukraine once again asked to join. Russia has made clear since many years that it will not allow this and actually has stopped NATO's expansion into Georgia. Of course both sides (NATO and Russia) argue that they should not be feared. Yet both sides have a rich history of recent military interventions. Now leaving the realist level, let me offer my judgement: The West is constantly lamenting that Russia is so uneuropean, yet is constantly excluding Russia. More specifically NATO did not want (once relatively liberal) Russia let in when they knocked at the door. Russia is not modern enough ? If so, why is Turkey, why is Albania a NATO member ? My second point is this: The West knows very little about Eastern Europe. Not few people in Germany today are saying that they would not care if Russia took Poland, as Poland is an oppressive country anyway, which in free and fair elections has repeatedly voted an anti-European government into office. Many Americans firmly believe that Hungary and Poland are dictatorships. I know that this is nonsense, but public/general opinion matters, as you correctly point out. So Middle & Eastern European countries should be very careful to balance their need of security from Russia with realism about how much the West really cares about them.
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@jbolanowski1 I do think that the Russian leadership is afraid of NATO. Probably not of a frontal attack. Yet there are other ways of destabilizing a country, just see the case of Allende in Chile. And there are ways to indirectly block what Russia deems to be of vital importance to her, like access to the seas, Sevastopol being a prime example. Now you seem to argue that Russia should drop her interests. Why exactly should she ? Whatever the internal characteristics of (most) NATO countries vs Russia are, the ways of behaving to the outside world are rather similar. We shall be honest enough to admit that. Now regarding the internal qualities I am far from being relativistic. The Western model is the best worldwide and where it is not, it is open enough to absorb whatever other cultures and civilizations have to offer. Yet acting based on the attitude “as we are so great, how dare you to oppose our expansion ?” will not work / will require gambling at the brink of nuclear war. I do not think that this is an option for a civilization which takes pride in being rational. The problem with Western civilization is that it genuinely got weak. While Putin succeeded in Georgia, in the Crimea and Syria the USA has won only one war since WW II and achieved a draw or lost all others. That POTUS / CiC Joe Biden was not able to coordinate a withdrawal from Afghanistan was a signal for Russia to act. So, to conclude: Handling Russia requires real strength tempered by realism. The West currently lacks both.
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