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>I don't blame Russia's stance. As a Russian I say you are completely wrong. The current crisis is entirely manufactured by Putin and his authoritarian needs,

>I don't blame Russia's stance. As a Russian I say you are completely wrong. The current crisis is entirely manufactured by Putin and his authoritarian needs, which are contrary to the actual needs of the Russian people. The Baltic states joined NATO in 2004, and there isn't much difference in nuke flight time between a launch from Latvia or from Kharkiv, so the entire premise that Ukraine potentially joining NATO somehow threatens Russia is a ruse. What's really going on is that Putin's popularity is falling, and he needs a) distractions b) to fullfill the imperialistic need that has been propagandized out of every hole for the last 15+ years (I.e the need Putin himself created), and through that increase his popularity. For some time the conflict in the eastern Ukraine served that purpose, but people's eyes and ears got tired of that, so he has to up the stakes. Also an endless conflict with a great adversary is a good justification to further limit the scraps of freedom that remain, and justify the poor state of the economy, arrest people for being "foreign agents" etc etc -- something that the North Korean monarchy has perfected. >NATO should've been disbanded. If that happened the Baltic states would have already been occupied by Russia, to protect the Russian minority of course. Nobody forced east European countries to join NATO, it's in their interest, it preserves their sovereignty. America is imperialist too, but it's much more benign imperialism, focused on furthering globalism, democratic rule, and capitalists' profits. Russian imperialism only brings submission and authoritarianism -- the main narrative is sacrificing oneself for the imperialist rodina like the деды.

esarbe 5y ago
Is there any reliable (international) source for Russian internal affairs that is not tainted by state propaganda? Can you give a recommendation?
- nullifidian 5y ago
  Understanding a country without knowing the language/culture is an endeavor fraught with failure in my opinion. The only way is to learn the language, learn the cultural differences(preferably at least partially from "field experience", not that it's advisable as of late), and read the same things a curious Russian would.
  - shashurup 5y ago
    Or you may someone who live in Russia :) I can share a worldview many Russians hold. Of course I'm influenced by a state propaganda to some extent, but at least I read both, Russian and Western media.
  - esarbe 5y ago
    Thanks for your honest opinion. I guess there's quite some truth to that, especially with regards to the cultural differences.
shashurup 5y ago
> b) to fullfill the imperialistic need that has been propagandized out of every hole for the last 15+ years I honestly cannot grasp where does this narrative come from. I live in Russia and read local media and I don't see the idea being pushed. Putin himself once considered USSR disbanding as catastrophic but nothng beyond that.
- nullifidian 5y ago
  So the idea of "Russkiy mir", USSR falling apart being a "_geopolitical_ catastrophe" (only an imperialist would say something like that), USSR in general being viewed positively by the media, its every act of imperialism like Prague Spring, or the attempt to keep Latvia in the USSR viewed exclusively positively in "documentaries", even positive coverage of the imperialism of the Russian empire (the Great Game) and so on, propagandists saying things from that point of view, and attacking the "straw-men" propagandists who said something against, Putin insisting that Russians and Ukrainians are one and the same ( https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-oliver-stone-europe-russia-ukraine-3fe3ff2299994fae97825381765b831c https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-oliver-stone-europe... ), Medvedev denying the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state ( https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/10/11/russia-shouldnt-negotiate-with-vassal-ukraine-ex-president-medvedev-says-a75263 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/10/11/russia-shouldnt-ne... ) are not all imperialistic narrative for you? In general if you turn on Russian news, almost every sentence said reeks of imperialism, imperialistic assumptions one way or another. If you don't notice that, I can't help you. Sorry.
  - shashurup 5y ago
    The reason why any state tries to present its history in a positive light is a different question. Good things are exaggerated, bad things are smoothed over. The states doing the opposite just doesn't live long. Being positive about USSR and Russian empire and pushing the idea of restoring it are pretty different things. There are no ideas such as rebuilding USSR (or Russian empire) pushed by local media. > even positive coverage of the imperialism of the Russian empire (the Great Game) What is wrong with empires by then? This was the way thing worked in 19th century. Are we supposed to condemn that? If yes, was, for instance, feudalism any better?
eternalban 5y ago
> The Baltic states joined NATO in 2004, and there isn't much difference in nuke flight time between a launch from Latvia or from Kharkiv, so the entire premise that Ukraine potentially joining NATO somehow threatens Russia is a ruse. This is true and Russia demands include ALL such installations after "1997". It is the Western press that has been formulating this as "about Ukraine". The documents btw are publicly published, in English, and very straight forwrd. Russia is demanding a strategic retreat to "1997". (See "already deployed" below) "Article 7: The Parties shall refrain from deploying nuclear weapons outside their national territories and return such weapons already deployed outside their national territories at the time of the entry into force of the Treaty to their national territories. The Parties shall eliminate all existing infrastructure for deployment of nuclear weapons outside their national territories." https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/rso/nato/1790818/?lang=en https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/rso/nato/1790818/?lang=en
- timeon 5y ago
  But we are free people now. We do not want to be Russian colony again.

esarbe 5y ago

Is there any reliable (international) source for Russian internal affairs that is not tainted by state propaganda? Can you give a recommendation?

nullifidian 5y ago
Understanding a country without knowing the language/culture is an endeavor fraught with failure in my opinion. The only way is to learn the language, learn the cultural differences(preferably at least partially from "field experience", not that it's advisable as of late), and read the same things a curious Russian would.
- shashurup 5y ago
  Or you may someone who live in Russia :) I can share a worldview many Russians hold. Of course I'm influenced by a state propaganda to some extent, but at least I read both, Russian and Western media.
- esarbe 5y ago
  Thanks for your honest opinion. I guess there's quite some truth to that, especially with regards to the cultural differences.

shashurup 5y ago

> b) to fullfill the imperialistic need that has been propagandized out of every hole for the last 15+ years I honestly cannot grasp where does this narrative come from. I live in Russia and read local media and I don't see the idea being pushed. Putin himself once considered USSR disbanding as catastrophic but nothng beyond that.

nullifidian 5y ago
So the idea of "Russkiy mir", USSR falling apart being a "_geopolitical_ catastrophe" (only an imperialist would say something like that), USSR in general being viewed positively by the media, its every act of imperialism like Prague Spring, or the attempt to keep Latvia in the USSR viewed exclusively positively in "documentaries", even positive coverage of the imperialism of the Russian empire (the Great Game) and so on, propagandists saying things from that point of view, and attacking the "straw-men" propagandists who said something against, Putin insisting that Russians and Ukrainians are one and the same ( https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-oliver-stone-europe-russia-ukraine-3fe3ff2299994fae97825381765b831c https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-oliver-stone-europe... ), Medvedev denying the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state ( https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/10/11/russia-shouldnt-negotiate-with-vassal-ukraine-ex-president-medvedev-says-a75263 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/10/11/russia-shouldnt-ne... ) are not all imperialistic narrative for you? In general if you turn on Russian news, almost every sentence said reeks of imperialism, imperialistic assumptions one way or another. If you don't notice that, I can't help you. Sorry.
- shashurup 5y ago
  The reason why any state tries to present its history in a positive light is a different question. Good things are exaggerated, bad things are smoothed over. The states doing the opposite just doesn't live long. Being positive about USSR and Russian empire and pushing the idea of restoring it are pretty different things. There are no ideas such as rebuilding USSR (or Russian empire) pushed by local media. > even positive coverage of the imperialism of the Russian empire (the Great Game) What is wrong with empires by then? This was the way thing worked in 19th century. Are we supposed to condemn that? If yes, was, for instance, feudalism any better?

eternalban 5y ago

> The Baltic states joined NATO in 2004, and there isn't much difference in nuke flight time between a launch from Latvia or from Kharkiv, so the entire premise that Ukraine potentially joining NATO somehow threatens Russia is a ruse. This is true and Russia demands include ALL such installations after "1997". It is the Western press that has been formulating this as "about Ukraine". The documents btw are publicly published, in English, and very straight forwrd. Russia is demanding a strategic retreat to "1997". (See "already deployed" below) "Article 7: The Parties shall refrain from deploying nuclear weapons outside their national territories and return such weapons already deployed outside their national territories at the time of the entry into force of the Treaty to their national territories. The Parties shall eliminate all existing infrastructure for deployment of nuclear weapons outside their national territories." https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/rso/nato/1790818/?lang=en https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/rso/nato/1790818/?lang=en

timeon 5y ago
But we are free people now. We do not want to be Russian colony again.