3 ms·
> I'm not sure that's an accurate reflection of the man's views. Your sequencing is not construable to a new fact. > He did recant any notion of Ukrainians bei
by tivert 3y ago
> I'm not sure that's an accurate reflection of the man's views. Your sequencing is not construable to a new fact.
> He did recant any notion of Ukrainians being Russian. He also asserted ukrainians Right to independent self-governing.
I never followed Navalny very closely, but my understanding was he opposed Putin but he was also a Russian nationalist, so (at least pre-2022) there wasn't tons of distance between them on the topic of Ukraine.
Since Trump and especially since the more recent invasion of Ukraine, I think there's been a tendency for Western liberals to concentrate on Putin, oppose him, and therefore idealize his opponents as being and thinking just like themselves. So the liberals would tend to avoid thinking about certain uncomfortable facts, and Navalny may have been incentivized to conform to their views (given he was in prison and his main protection was the attention and sympathy of foreign liberals)
- SEJeff 3y agoYour understand is spot on. I give a few examples in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39403310 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39403310
- kjellsbells 3y agos/liberals//g Has happened over and over again that the Western political class prioritizes alignment with some entity on some short term goal over checking that the entity shares any other sentiments. And then being all surprised-pikachu when they dont. US funding mujahideen against the Soviets. Israel funding Hamas to keep the PA weak. Europe lauding Aung Sang Suu Kyi in Myanmar etc. Any time you see a puff piece in mainstream Western media about some leader abroad that "we find we can work with" or has similar cheese, beware.
- lr1970 3y agoYou can add Juan Guido in Venezuela (sorry if misspelled his name)
- bonzini 3y agoIt was always pretty clear that he wasn't a saint. At some point Amnesty International felt compelled to clarify that their sympathy for Navalny began and ended with him being poisoned and imprisoned.
- roenxi 3y ago> there's been a tendency for Western liberals to concentrate on Putin, oppose him, and therefore idealize his opponents Seems to depend on whether someone believes Russia's security interests have some level of legitimacy. If the war is unfounded then it is an act of madness and the motivation is probably attributable to a single charismatic individual (and Putin must be that person). The view is part of the "Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine!" narrative. If Russian has legitimate security interests in the region then it doesn't matter so much who the president is and Putin's role in events is important but it is likely others would have made the same choice.