So Ukraine is the example of where foreign interference (in this case Russia interfering with Ukraine) can go horribly wrong?
A former Georgian prime minister (same that got Georgia into an armed conflict with Russia and who came into power in Georgia by a flower revolution) became head of Odessian Oblast with US support some time after 2014.
Various paramilitary groups were funded / backed by Russia / US / other people. Among them obviously the “peoples republics”.
Years of investment in “pro”-democracy NGOs many of which are known to be affiliated with the State Department and intelligence fronts, to the point that many maidan protesters / organizers were essentially paid to be there.
The Crimean referendum happened under Russian influence obviously.
The whole Nordstream 1/2 project came into existence because Ukraine was annoying to deal with and some German politicians were more than a bit too friendly and open to Russian suggestions.
In turn there was a lot of planning by the US happening to slow down Nordstream 2.
There are a lot more examples like that. Ukraine is an excellent case study how large blocks / nations follow through on their foreign policy goals over decades.
And what were the events that led up this revolution? Walk me through the details.
> In turn there was a lot of planning by the US happening to slow down Nordstream 2.
And now Nordstream 2 is cancelled. Are you saying Putin is working with western oil and gas companies? Had Russia not invaded Ukraine last month, Nordstream 2 wouldn’t have been cancelled and gas would continue to flow into Europe.
Maybe you can walk me through this one too?
I suspect most of the foreign interference comes from China and Russia. Maybe Saudi Arabia and Iran because they want to destabilize Ukraine.
The problem with this theory is this idea that somehow an EU-aligned Ukraine represents a threat to Russia or Russian energy. It doesn’t. All the foreign interference in the world is irrelevant.
The truth of the matter is that Putin thought that gas supplies to Europe were a sufficient bargaining chip to prevent the EU and an in-fighting United States (thanks China/Russia/Iran, appreciate the taste of our own medicine) from acting while he took over a resource rich and to Putin, historically important Ukraine. Putin tells you this. He wrote about it and has talked about it endlessly. There is no mystery here. No grand “foreign interference” conspiracy. The US has no reason to care if Russia supplies energy to Europe except to the extent that Russia then goes on to cause chaos and trouble elsewhere. This is evident by the actions of the US which have been appeasement after appeasement.
The natural resources of the Russian Empire / Soviet Union / Russia together with the industrial base of Germany and France would have been no match at any time of the 20th Century. Both world wars were fought in part about gaining control of the Ukranian (then Russian) resources. The separate peace of Brest-Litovsk split off essentially Ukraine and made it a protectorate of Germany. In many ways the collapse of the Soviet Union and the attempts at integrating former parts of the Russian empire are analogous.
But yeah this doesn’t explain putins actions. I would mostly agree with your analysis of his motivations.
A stable prospering Ukraine is of no more value to the actual decision makers than a stable prospering DR Congo.
> see our pathetic withdrawal from Afghanistan
Eh withdrawal was fine. Needed to get out of their ASAP. A little chaotic but the military (woah Biden made the MIC do something they didn’t want to do???!) didn’t think he’d actually order them out since everyone has talked about it for years and they were too far invested to cut their losses.
But sure. The Us wants to sell more weapons. So does Russia. The Russian MIC started the war so Putin would have to buy and upgrade equipment. So there ya have it.
This leads one to suspect trolling. The withdrawal was pathetic because it didn't take place two decades earlier, after ObL left Afghanistan. Also, because it has been followed by the "asset freeze" and associated starve-the-children policy.
Russia isn't led by its MIC; it is led by the dictator that USA installed. Putin, who came to power via USA manipulation, is now opposed by USA manipulation. In this, he takes his place on a long list of world leaders:
Victoriano Huerta, Raoul Cédras, Jean-Bertrand Aristide (actually democratically elected, but later removed and reinstalled numerous times in some weird Clintonian game), Augusto Pinochet, Suharto, Rafael Trujillo, Saddam Hussein, Mobutu Sese Seko, Ngo Dinh Diem, Dương Văn Minh, Nguyễn Khánh, Fernando Romeo Lucas García
I'm probably missing a lot here. Especially I think there are many African leaders who could be added to this list. If the fondest dreams of CIA reptiles come true and they somehow manage to replace Putin with some other awful person, we can be sure that eventual opposition to that person's rule will fuel even more sales of armaments.
I can safely clear that suspicion.
> The withdrawal was pathetic because it didn't take place two decades earlier, after ObL left Afghanistan. Also, because it has been followed by the "asset freeze" and associated starve-the-children policy.
I don't follow this chain of reasoning. Bin Laden left Afghanistan for Pakistan, the closest realistic staging area was Afghanistan (if you're going to attack this from a "get Bin Laden" angle).
> Russia isn't led by its MIC; it is led by the dictator that USA installed. Putin, who came to power via USA manipulation, is now opposed by USA manipulation. In this, he takes his place on a long list of world leaders:
Speaking of trolling...
If the US is so powerful that it can easily install whoever it wants as a puppet leader in any country, including Russia, then you should go grab a beer and relax and just enjoy your life because there is nothing you can do and nothing for you to be concerned with. The US is all-powerful and all-seeing.
Alternatively, you can not peddle very ridiculous conspiracy theories and not waste my time.