Russia and Ukraine

[Belacqua]

[...]

But as a deeper way of analyzing things: I think huge errors were made in the post-soviet era (by both sides). I think the west was too opportunistic in that era. I would have made agreements to 1) support the transition of the Russian legal system to a westernized legal system 2) support and monitor all the privatization efforts of the Russian state and try to supervise the way these privatizations are being made. So that no one robs the Russian people and that these people are not pushed into alcoholism and prostitution. In exchange, I would ask for the dismantlement of more nuclear weapons. [...]

Yes, I think it's good to step back and see that the history goes further back than last week, and what's happening now has direct causes.

When the US and the IMF imposed shock therapy on the collapsing Soviet Union, millions of people suffered financially, and life expectancy shortened significantly. The oligarchs took everything.

Putin is very popular in Russia now for restoring stability and exercising power over the oligarchs. No one is saying that he's a pure democratic leader and the ideal we would want -- but there's a reason he's so popular at home. 

There's also a reason why the Russian people have no trust for promises from the US. 

That’s what he did in Syria as well. Millions of refugees fled the country. Cities, historical places were razed to the ground. But the Assad regime (friendly toward Russia), has no collapsed, Russian interest has been maintained.

And remember that Russia got al Qaeda out of Syria, even as the US was supporting them. Now the US is occupying large parts of Syria and is stealing their oil and wheat with impunity. 

So again, no offence to anyone. But I don’t really like Russia’s foreign policy and in fact I didn’t like it in the Soviet Era either. I think that if the Soviets had not invaded Afghanistan, today we would have a Pakistan-like country in the region who isn’t posing any major threat to its own population or to any of the surrounding countries. 

I agree that the invasion of Afghanistan made the world worse. It would also have been better if Jimmy Carter had not begun funding the extremist Muslims in order to counter the Soviets. It was this US-backed group that caused a little bit of trouble later on.

These issues go back a long way. Both sides are guilty. Pretending that it's all one side prevents us from accurate evaluations of history and realistic plans for going forward.