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I disagree. Education and other funding is irrelevant if they are teaching Russian at your local school. My personal take on this is the Western world must sho

I disagree. Education and other funding is irrelevant if they are teaching Russian at your local school. My personal take on this is the Western world must show force in order to avoid further conflicts. I believe NATO has a leadership and strategy crisis at the moment, British secretary of defense talking about "kicking the backside" underlines this. A sane strategist talks like this? Definitely no Kissingers today. Other than that, EU needs to have a strong army that's independent of USA. Why? Putin already demanded NATO to return to pre-1997 membership, that means excluding Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland etc. Russia will want to extend its influence over the ex-COMECON countries, Poland, Hungary, Romania, etc. Russia was always a superpower ever since its existence, it had only a small dip the past 20 years because of the bad economy. I know this might read like a pro-Russian view, but it's not, it's just the reality. Regarding Ukraine, it is not a surprise to those who read History books, Kyev is where present-day Russia was originated along with its language and culture. In Russian eyes, it cannot be another country. The bear must not be cornered. My view is that we should return to the status quo of the Yalta agreement, otherwise we'll head straight into WW3.

phatfish 5y ago
The Roman empire was a superpower. Do we need to give most of western Europe back to Italy? Same with Britain, and any number of other examples throughout history. Times change, there is no right for Russia to control Ukraine (or to be a "superpower") just because that's how it used to be.
- onos 5y ago
  The world may be returning to a state of “might is right”, if we ever left it.
- ricardobayes 5y ago
  Of course, I agree fully. But that's not how superpowers think.
  - infamia 5y ago
    Russia's economy is a bit smaller than Italy's. No offense to Italians, but Russia hasn't been a super power for decades. They're barely in the top five EU economies (and falling)
    - ricardobayes 5y ago
      Do they have a button that can destroy you and everyone you know, making your land uninhabitable for the next thousand years? Yes. So they are a superpower. How many Big Macs they can buy with an hour of salary is irrelevant.
      - infamia 5y ago
        There are at least half a dozen countries other than the Russians that could say as much. For sustainable military might and to wield influence, you need economic strength. Without that, you're left with terracotta soldiers like we're seeing today in Ukraine.

phatfish 5y ago

The Roman empire was a superpower. Do we need to give most of western Europe back to Italy? Same with Britain, and any number of other examples throughout history. Times change, there is no right for Russia to control Ukraine (or to be a "superpower") just because that's how it used to be.

onos 5y ago
The world may be returning to a state of “might is right”, if we ever left it.
ricardobayes 5y ago
Of course, I agree fully. But that's not how superpowers think.
- infamia 5y ago
  Russia's economy is a bit smaller than Italy's. No offense to Italians, but Russia hasn't been a super power for decades. They're barely in the top five EU economies (and falling)
  - ricardobayes 5y ago
    Do they have a button that can destroy you and everyone you know, making your land uninhabitable for the next thousand years? Yes. So they are a superpower. How many Big Macs they can buy with an hour of salary is irrelevant.
    - infamia 5y ago
      There are at least half a dozen countries other than the Russians that could say as much. For sustainable military might and to wield influence, you need economic strength. Without that, you're left with terracotta soldiers like we're seeing today in Ukraine.