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White House makes the first step towards enforcing mass boycott of the Russian World Cup as punishment for flexing its muscles in its old spheres of influence.

White House makes the first step towards enforcing mass boycott of the Russian World Cup as punishment for flexing its muscles in its old spheres of influence. I'm all for dismantling and/or restructuring FIFA, but the timing is rather opportune.

hvs 11y ago
"Flexing its muscles in its old spheres of influence" is an interesting way to say, "invading and taking over another country."
- mladenkovacevic 11y ago
  Is it interesting? I don't know, violations of international law have taken on many imaginative and interesting names in the recent past but I think the one I used is rather uninteresting comparatively.
- _nedR 11y ago
  You mean like what the US, UK and Australia did to Iraq. What punitive action did these countries face for their actions? Yes, really the whole thing makes perfect sense when viewed from an "Old Order" vs "New Order" perspective.
  - dragonwriter 11y ago
    A lot of the same people (including in the US) who aren't happy with what Russia did in Ukraine at the time it occurred also opposed what the US did in Iraq at the time that occurred.
    - _nedR 11y ago
      Note: I have edited my original comment after you replied (but before i saw it). My point is that Russia is forced to face actual consequences for its actions, whereas the Americans, and the rest have been given a free pass for doing basically the same thing.
    - mladenkovacevic 11y ago
      Nobody gives a shit what the "people" think. r/worldnews isn't going to change foreign policy with outrage and opinions (Russian or US). The more meaningful point to be taken from this event is that US government can and will use its influence over public and private institutions (banks, sporting organizations, other governments) to pressure Russia (and possibly other BRIC nations) into abandoning their economic and strategic interests. This is dangerous because there is no chance in hell of Russia abandoning those interests over a soccer tournament (no matter how unfair/undeserved those interests seem to an average Redditor trolling /r/worldnews from their mom's basement in Illinois). I feel that there are significant powers in Washington who sense that NATO and US's days of being able to violate international law on a whim and without repercussions are numbered and the only way to extend that immunity is by raising the Iron Curtain once more.
      - dragonwriter 11y ago
        > Nobody gives a shit what the "people" think. The effort governments (among others) put into propaganda demonstrate that this is not true.

hvs 11y ago

"Flexing its muscles in its old spheres of influence" is an interesting way to say, "invading and taking over another country."

mladenkovacevic 11y ago
Is it interesting? I don't know, violations of international law have taken on many imaginative and interesting names in the recent past but I think the one I used is rather uninteresting comparatively.
_nedR 11y ago
You mean like what the US, UK and Australia did to Iraq. What punitive action did these countries face for their actions? Yes, really the whole thing makes perfect sense when viewed from an "Old Order" vs "New Order" perspective.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  A lot of the same people (including in the US) who aren't happy with what Russia did in Ukraine at the time it occurred also opposed what the US did in Iraq at the time that occurred.
  - _nedR 11y ago
    Note: I have edited my original comment after you replied (but before i saw it). My point is that Russia is forced to face actual consequences for its actions, whereas the Americans, and the rest have been given a free pass for doing basically the same thing.
  - mladenkovacevic 11y ago
    Nobody gives a shit what the "people" think. r/worldnews isn't going to change foreign policy with outrage and opinions (Russian or US). The more meaningful point to be taken from this event is that US government can and will use its influence over public and private institutions (banks, sporting organizations, other governments) to pressure Russia (and possibly other BRIC nations) into abandoning their economic and strategic interests. This is dangerous because there is no chance in hell of Russia abandoning those interests over a soccer tournament (no matter how unfair/undeserved those interests seem to an average Redditor trolling /r/worldnews from their mom's basement in Illinois). I feel that there are significant powers in Washington who sense that NATO and US's days of being able to violate international law on a whim and without repercussions are numbered and the only way to extend that immunity is by raising the Iron Curtain once more.
    - dragonwriter 11y ago
      > Nobody gives a shit what the "people" think. The effort governments (among others) put into propaganda demonstrate that this is not true.