Comments by "Jim Luebke" (@jimluebke3869) on "World in Conflict: Israel, Russia, China, Iran | Walter Russell Mead | EP 326" video.

  1. Great to see Walter Russell Mead again!
    4
  2. Considering Western shenanigans in Ukraine (including, but not limited to, Joe Biden's quid pro quo withholding aid loans unless Ukraine stopped investigating the company Burisma where his son Hunter worked) do the Ukrainians really see the West as less corrupt than Putin? Does anyone?
    3
  3. Doesn't the West have its own totalitarian centrally-planned insurgence, with the WEF and its hangers-on?
    2
  4. "In Russia, there is a deep distrust of commercial enterprise" I've only read a few books of Russian literature, but so far I haven't come across a positive portrayal of a businessman or merchant. Historically speaking (and I think some of this has come from Mead's books) I seem to recall the commercial class in Russia being itinerant merchants, primarily Jews and Scots.
    2
  5. What sources of information can you trust, coming out of Ukraine? As dependent as Zelenskyy is on American support, and as canny as he is about "information War", wouldn't he logically be exaggerating reasons for the US to maintain its support of Ukraine, and dishonestly minimizing anything that might cause that support to waver?
    2
  6. "What if Ukraine becomes a successful Westernized country?" I think it's more likely that Ukraine will follow the "Never Again" trajectory of Prussia after the Thirty Year's War. A lot of historical forces are in place for us to see the rise of a heavily militarist Ukraine, under a charismatic strong-man.
    1
  7. Is World Systems Theory a necessary part of the US/UK Global Maritime system, or is there hope for American manufacturing? Or is it just because the urban creative class has a stranglehold on power in this country?
    1
  8. Are we just going to emphasize how bad the Iranians are, and gloss over just how awful and barbaric the Saudis are?
    1
  9. "Defense contractors develop so much dual-use technology, that investments in defense add to, rather than detract from, the broader economy" Yup. Silicon Valley was built on the back of Lockheed Martin and its precursor companies. Steve Wozniak learned electronics thanks to his dad, who worked for Lockheed. And to go sideways from this point, defense contractors are some of the only refuges for manufacturing skillsets, which have been abandoned in the broader economy -- but are now in higher demand as we try to re-shore industry.
    1
  10. Wouldn't the buildup of an alternative to American strategic overwatch, be a return to Mahanite great power competition, leading to a new massive set of wars?
    1