5 ms·

If I were Putin I would be mad at Clinton for punking me re: Gaddafi. Russia made a good-faith attempt to stop Libya from descending into total chaos and well,

If I were Putin I would be mad at Clinton for punking me re: Gaddafi. Russia made a good-faith attempt to stop Libya from descending into total chaos and well, look where it got them. I think it was a timely reminder to Putin that NATO has no interest in playing nice with Russia, and informed his actions in Ukraine and Syria.

qaq 10y ago
I am obviously biased being from Ukraine but Putin is being active mostly because he perceives EU as being extremely weak and US President as weak so he has a window to act. If he received some serious level of resistance (not military) he would quickly back down, but he only receives very minor resistance which is interpreted as farther sign of west's weakness.
- rangibaby 10y ago
  Do you live in Ukraine now? What is the general mood in the different parts of the country? If you do live there I would like to read your opinions, there is so much spin and lies in the media (from both sides).
  - qaq 10y ago
    I moved to US a year ago, there is always spin in the media, so if I can help providing some useful information would be glad to do so.
- int_19h 10y ago
  I'm not sure that is true. It's a popular theory, certainly, but another popular theory is that he genuinely believes in all that Third Rome, Russia as savior of the world pseudo-religious bullshit. With the guy being in charge of the world's largest nuclear arsenal, this is not something that we'll want to test experimentally.
  - qaq 10y ago
    USSR had a much more potent military and I don't remember US employing a strategy of yielding to that.
    - int_19h 10y ago
      No, but US didn't openly engage Soviet forces anywhere, either. In proxy wars, it was always covert for either side (as in e.g. Vietnam or Afghanistan), or sometimes both (as in many places in Africa).
      - qaq 10y ago
        I specifically mentioned non military response.
int_19h 10y ago
There has actually been an unverified rumor, ostensibly from Putin's inner circle, that Putin was extremely spooked by Qaddafi's eventual fate (to remind, he was tortured and raped with a stick before being shot in the stomach and slowly bled to death). And when the massive pro-democracy protests against electoral fraud in 2011 election started 2 months later, he started to take it as a personal threat. The rumor claims that this emotional response was a significant contribution to the course change (towards more authoritarianism) that followed.

qaq 10y ago

I am obviously biased being from Ukraine but Putin is being active mostly because he perceives EU as being extremely weak and US President as weak so he has a window to act. If he received some serious level of resistance (not military) he would quickly back down, but he only receives very minor resistance which is interpreted as farther sign of west's weakness.

rangibaby 10y ago
Do you live in Ukraine now? What is the general mood in the different parts of the country? If you do live there I would like to read your opinions, there is so much spin and lies in the media (from both sides).
- qaq 10y ago
  I moved to US a year ago, there is always spin in the media, so if I can help providing some useful information would be glad to do so.
int_19h 10y ago
I'm not sure that is true. It's a popular theory, certainly, but another popular theory is that he genuinely believes in all that Third Rome, Russia as savior of the world pseudo-religious bullshit. With the guy being in charge of the world's largest nuclear arsenal, this is not something that we'll want to test experimentally.
- qaq 10y ago
  USSR had a much more potent military and I don't remember US employing a strategy of yielding to that.
  - int_19h 10y ago
    No, but US didn't openly engage Soviet forces anywhere, either. In proxy wars, it was always covert for either side (as in e.g. Vietnam or Afghanistan), or sometimes both (as in many places in Africa).
    - qaq 10y ago
      I specifically mentioned non military response.

int_19h 10y ago

There has actually been an unverified rumor, ostensibly from Putin's inner circle, that Putin was extremely spooked by Qaddafi's eventual fate (to remind, he was tortured and raped with a stick before being shot in the stomach and slowly bled to death). And when the massive pro-democracy protests against electoral fraud in 2011 election started 2 months later, he started to take it as a personal threat. The rumor claims that this emotional response was a significant contribution to the course change (towards more authoritarianism) that followed.