I agree with what you’ve written. Basically, Russia has used Eastern Europe the same way China uses North Korea, Xinjiang, Tibet, and parts of Mongolia: as a

I agree with what you’ve written. Basically, Russia has used Eastern Europe the same way China uses North Korea, Xinjiang, Tibet, and parts of Mongolia: as a defensive buffer. Im not trying to ignore that occupations by authoritarian regimes tend to not be nice. I’m just stating the cold logic of it. I totally also get why the Ukrainian people want to fight for their freedom from authoritarian corruption. as for the larger “reason” it’s simply human nature. We’ve gotten better over the centuries, but game theory’s core idea is still in play.