5 ms·

Note that in Russian doctrine as tought in universities, the Cold War never ended.

by brnt 4y ago

9999px 4y ago
- chitowneats 4y ago
  I laughed so loud at this my wife yelled at me from across the house, "What's so funny?!"
  - romwell 4y ago
    There's no way that comment wasn't sarcasm, right?
    - mminer237 4y ago
      Looking at his comment history, no, he looks to 100% believe poor, innocent Russia is fighting a defensive war in which it has been easily rolling over Ukraine.
      - 9999px 4y ago
        Why has Ukraine rarely lost power, water or internet? Why isn't Russia destroying civilian infrastructure en masse? Because it's not a war in the same way the US went to war with Iraq, for example (one of the first things the US did was target civilian infrastructure). You're just a clueless American without the basic background knowledge to see this situation for what it is: a preemptive defensive strike against an ever-expanding, finance-capital-backed NATO.
        _kbh_ 4y ago
        > Why has Ukraine rarely lost power, water or internet? Why isn't Russia destroying civilian infrastructure en masse? Because it's not a war in the same way the US went to war with Iraq, for example (one of the first things the US did was target civilian infrastructure). They have lost all off these things throughout the war at different times. > You're just a clueless American without the basic background knowledge to see this situation for what it is: a preemptive defensive strike against an ever-expanding, finance-capital-backed NATO. Yes Russia has to commit genocide again Ukraine, Russia absolutely must rape, torture and murder civilians because of NATO. Russias action lie solely on Russia, Russia is the entity that decided to invade.
    - d0mine 4y ago
      It is not a sarcasm: thanks to a well intentioned but too trusting politician, NATO moved to East and Russia has to fight for survival against vastly superior opponent. If you are interested, we could look at the map, compare some numbers (weapons, population, media control, the number of countries bombs, etc)
      - romwell 4y ago
        If you are interested, as a Russian native speaker who lived in Ukraine until 2003 (and has been there as recently as July of this year), I can tell you how the "fight for survival" you speak of is a load of propaganda bollocks, going from primary sources in Russian.
theonething 4y ago
Seems accurate to me. It never completely ended.
DoneWithAllThat 4y ago
This seems like needless pedantry at least for a conversation outside of school. The USSR (with whom the Cold War was being fought) was dissolved and Germany was reunified. For all intents and purposes it did end, just a new conflict (now with Russia) began.
- brnt 4y ago
  Seeing as the Cold War was a framework for conflicts, not a conflict in itself, I find it extremely illuminating to consider the view of the opposing party. Not a technicality in the slightest.
- avmich 4y ago
  Andrei Piontkovskiy, in addition to two known World Wars, considers the Cold War as the World War III and the current war in Eastern Europe as the World War IV. His parallels are that WWII was fought by Germany dissatisfied by the results of WWI, and WWIV is fought by Russia dissatisfied by the results of WWIII.
  - bishnu 4y ago
    This analogy doesn't hold for "WWIII" though, right? By this analogy, I would call the current crisis "Cold War II".
    - avmich 4y ago
      World wars involve many countries, and Cold War definitely qualify. Today's war is a pretty active, quite large "hot" war, which also involves many countries - even though most fight by proxy.
      - xg15 4y ago
        I also think "Cold War II" for the current situation is more fitting. I think if there is any useful distinction between "hot" and "cold" world wars then it's most likely whether super powers are in direct military conflict with each other or whether military confrontation is "only" through proxy wars. Note that the original cold war wasn't very "cold" for much of the world either - the only thing that didn't happen was direct millitary confrontation between the US and USSR. Nevertheless there were lots of local conflicts and proxy wars where each bloc was backing a faction.
vkou 4y ago
Based on my count of how many hair-trigger alert nuclear weapons are pointed from east to west, and vice versa, I'd say that the Cold War only ended in name.
avgcorrection 4y ago
Russia–US relations have been pretty cold for most of these decades so why not.

Note that in Russian doctrine as tought in universities, the Cold War never ended.

by brnt 4y ago

Note that in Russian doctrine as tought in universities, the Cold War never ended.

9999px 4y ago

chitowneats 4y ago
I laughed so loud at this my wife yelled at me from across the house, "What's so funny?!"
- romwell 4y ago
  There's no way that comment wasn't sarcasm, right?
  - mminer237 4y ago
    Looking at his comment history, no, he looks to 100% believe poor, innocent Russia is fighting a defensive war in which it has been easily rolling over Ukraine.
    - 9999px 4y ago
      Why has Ukraine rarely lost power, water or internet? Why isn't Russia destroying civilian infrastructure en masse? Because it's not a war in the same way the US went to war with Iraq, for example (one of the first things the US did was target civilian infrastructure). You're just a clueless American without the basic background knowledge to see this situation for what it is: a preemptive defensive strike against an ever-expanding, finance-capital-backed NATO.
      - _kbh_ 4y ago
        > Why has Ukraine rarely lost power, water or internet? Why isn't Russia destroying civilian infrastructure en masse? Because it's not a war in the same way the US went to war with Iraq, for example (one of the first things the US did was target civilian infrastructure). They have lost all off these things throughout the war at different times. > You're just a clueless American without the basic background knowledge to see this situation for what it is: a preemptive defensive strike against an ever-expanding, finance-capital-backed NATO. Yes Russia has to commit genocide again Ukraine, Russia absolutely must rape, torture and murder civilians because of NATO. Russias action lie solely on Russia, Russia is the entity that decided to invade.
  - d0mine 4y ago
    It is not a sarcasm: thanks to a well intentioned but too trusting politician, NATO moved to East and Russia has to fight for survival against vastly superior opponent. If you are interested, we could look at the map, compare some numbers (weapons, population, media control, the number of countries bombs, etc)
    - romwell 4y ago
      If you are interested, as a Russian native speaker who lived in Ukraine until 2003 (and has been there as recently as July of this year), I can tell you how the "fight for survival" you speak of is a load of propaganda bollocks, going from primary sources in Russian.

theonething 4y ago

Seems accurate to me. It never completely ended.

DoneWithAllThat 4y ago

This seems like needless pedantry at least for a conversation outside of school. The USSR (with whom the Cold War was being fought) was dissolved and Germany was reunified. For all intents and purposes it did end, just a new conflict (now with Russia) began.

brnt 4y ago
Seeing as the Cold War was a framework for conflicts, not a conflict in itself, I find it extremely illuminating to consider the view of the opposing party. Not a technicality in the slightest.
avmich 4y ago
Andrei Piontkovskiy, in addition to two known World Wars, considers the Cold War as the World War III and the current war in Eastern Europe as the World War IV. His parallels are that WWII was fought by Germany dissatisfied by the results of WWI, and WWIV is fought by Russia dissatisfied by the results of WWIII.
- bishnu 4y ago
  This analogy doesn't hold for "WWIII" though, right? By this analogy, I would call the current crisis "Cold War II".
  - avmich 4y ago
    World wars involve many countries, and Cold War definitely qualify. Today's war is a pretty active, quite large "hot" war, which also involves many countries - even though most fight by proxy.
    - xg15 4y ago
      I also think "Cold War II" for the current situation is more fitting. I think if there is any useful distinction between "hot" and "cold" world wars then it's most likely whether super powers are in direct military conflict with each other or whether military confrontation is "only" through proxy wars. Note that the original cold war wasn't very "cold" for much of the world either - the only thing that didn't happen was direct millitary confrontation between the US and USSR. Nevertheless there were lots of local conflicts and proxy wars where each bloc was backing a faction.

vkou 4y ago

Based on my count of how many hair-trigger alert nuclear weapons are pointed from east to west, and vice versa, I'd say that the Cold War only ended in name.

avgcorrection 4y ago

Russia–US relations have been pretty cold for most of these decades so why not.