concordtom said:
I recall your stance but i have not participated much in this thread.
Putin has Crimea, free and clear. The problem was when he amassed his troops all around Ukraine and invaded. He lobbed missiles into Kiev. Why are you suggesting it could have ended with just Crimea?
I think you've believed this line - maybe it's your line - that it's Ukraine's fault for not promising to never join NATO.
I disagree with such logic. A country ought be free and independent. And another country ought not invade.
Putin ought not invade Crimea or the Dunbass and Trump ought not capture Maduro or kill Iran's leader.
At my university, AU, under the school of international affairs, you could be focus on
international economics (me)
international development (my wife)
international law
international peace and conflict resolution
It's this last one which I would have taken classes in had I more time.
I don't believe in militarism. There has to be a better way. Trump is unsophisticated, just like Putin. Let's not fail to remember that we live in a nuclear era. Many actors, some rogue. Escalation can suddenly be catastrophic.
It'll be interesting to see which path China takes as they continue to grow. So far, they've been incredibly impressive.
I don't have anything sophisticated to say about Ukraine other than I am violently opposed to Putin's invasion.
But I claim very little understanding. I would need a team of advisors. I would want to meet with the Russian delegation to hear their supposed justification.
Fair enough.
I think the Russian perspective on Ukraine here is that they have to be neutral, like Finland or Austria was for decades in the cold war (Austria is still neutral to this day). NATO is basically a military alliance against Russia, ever since the early 2000s.
The problem started when Ukraine after the 2014 Maidan coup adopted a 1930s nationalist culture which was highly antagonistic towards not just Russia but also its large Russian minority.
Had Ukraine abided by basic minority rights standards that prevail across western Europe (see for ex Spain with its Basque and Catalan minorities), there would not have been a war in Ukraine.
This is a pretty useful perspective and background, from a prof with mixed Russian and Ukrainian background who is an advocate for peace and reconcilliation there:
