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> Generally you avoid conflict by being scary, not agreeable. As a rule of life, that's a pretty bad idea. I don't avoid conflict with family, friends, neighbo

> Generally you avoid conflict by being scary, not agreeable. As a rule of life, that's a pretty bad idea. I don't avoid conflict with family, friends, neighbors, coworkers by being scary. In international relations, it's by far more effective to be agreeable. Alliances are far more stable than competitive balance between 'scary' countries. Look at the EU; look at Korea - which relationships are more stable, the scary or the agreeable ones? Look at Israel, where by far the most stable relationships are the agreeable ones with Egypt, Jordan, and the US, even now. Look at the US and Canada. The list goes on forever.

saiya-jin 3y ago
Your argument falls apart since you deal with mobsters who don't respect any contract if it doesn't suit them. Remember pinky promises that they won't invade Ukraine just before they did it? If you keep stepping back to bullies, soon you are standing with ocean behind your back. And if you don't think russians would love ruling as much Europe as they can grab, you haven't been listening to them a single bit for past 2 decades, their ego is gigantic. We've been there for 40 years not so long ago, but maybe you weren't born yet to recall these times. Also, this is how russia was defeated - mix of US being simply too strong and one sane russian leader who realized how bad this is (Gorbachev, he is deeply hated by all russian elites who now try to bring good ol' times back). What you propose is a position of weakness, that leaders of russia see as a sign of weakness and will act accordingly. I just wish all these naive commenters would spend a decade living in russia to understand what we're actually dealing with and what kind of conflict is inevitably coming to the western Europe.
- wolverine876 3y ago
  You confuse 'agreeable' - admittedly an ambiguous term - with 'walkover'. You can negotiate both with strength and without being a monster yourself.
  - LeroyRaz 3y ago
    When agreeable was first used in the chain of comments above it was presented as the counter point to "scary." As in, you defend yourself by appearing scary to take on. Shrewd tactful negotiation can be valuable, but I think people are mainly emphasizing the need for strength and clear emphatic boundaries, not for being a "monster."
nec4b 3y ago
>> As a rule of life, that's a pretty bad idea. I don't avoid conflict with family, friends, neighbors, coworkers by being scary. Are they trying to conquer and kill you? If not, your analogy doesn't hold.
- wolverine876 3y ago
  I'm talking generally, not about Russia. Even then, being 'scary' in particular only escalates things; you want to be strong yet perfectly in control.
falserum 3y ago
> As a rule of life, that's a pretty bad idea. I don't avoid conflict with family, friends, neighbors, coworkers by being scary. There is time and place for both. Some people live in much rougher environment, where you must demonstrate strength, if you dont want to be eaten. (Not in the family, but once you go outside) Russia is not a guy that you met at a library, Russia is a gangmember that runs a “protection” racket.

saiya-jin 3y ago

Your argument falls apart since you deal with mobsters who don't respect any contract if it doesn't suit them. Remember pinky promises that they won't invade Ukraine just before they did it? If you keep stepping back to bullies, soon you are standing with ocean behind your back. And if you don't think russians would love ruling as much Europe as they can grab, you haven't been listening to them a single bit for past 2 decades, their ego is gigantic. We've been there for 40 years not so long ago, but maybe you weren't born yet to recall these times. Also, this is how russia was defeated - mix of US being simply too strong and one sane russian leader who realized how bad this is (Gorbachev, he is deeply hated by all russian elites who now try to bring good ol' times back). What you propose is a position of weakness, that leaders of russia see as a sign of weakness and will act accordingly. I just wish all these naive commenters would spend a decade living in russia to understand what we're actually dealing with and what kind of conflict is inevitably coming to the western Europe.

wolverine876 3y ago
You confuse 'agreeable' - admittedly an ambiguous term - with 'walkover'. You can negotiate both with strength and without being a monster yourself.
- LeroyRaz 3y ago
  When agreeable was first used in the chain of comments above it was presented as the counter point to "scary." As in, you defend yourself by appearing scary to take on. Shrewd tactful negotiation can be valuable, but I think people are mainly emphasizing the need for strength and clear emphatic boundaries, not for being a "monster."

nec4b 3y ago

>> As a rule of life, that's a pretty bad idea. I don't avoid conflict with family, friends, neighbors, coworkers by being scary. Are they trying to conquer and kill you? If not, your analogy doesn't hold.

wolverine876 3y ago
I'm talking generally, not about Russia. Even then, being 'scary' in particular only escalates things; you want to be strong yet perfectly in control.

falserum 3y ago

> As a rule of life, that's a pretty bad idea. I don't avoid conflict with family, friends, neighbors, coworkers by being scary. There is time and place for both. Some people live in much rougher environment, where you must demonstrate strength, if you dont want to be eaten. (Not in the family, but once you go outside) Russia is not a guy that you met at a library, Russia is a gangmember that runs a “protection” racket.