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Russia and China may all, but the "enemy of my enemy" view is trite. Those kind of alliances don't end well. Remember what happened when the Scots and French United against the English.
China may agree with Russia on certain points and the two often act as a counterpart to the Western block at the UN security council, but the US is China's largest trading partner and vice versa.
I agree that the alliance between China and Russia will be based on specific objectives and situations as they evolve...in a word an alliance of convenience (mostly)
However the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" is not that trite...the west is making a big mistake on their Russia strategy because China can make an easy calculation that one day they can and will be at the receiving end of a similar treatment...sure the economic costs would be much bigger (the Russian sanctions themselves were not a walk in the park for Europe and many EU members are impatient to remove them) but the history of the world is full of miscalculation...including the current one with Russia.
Quote:
China is getting a lot of flack for it's expansionist policy in the South China Sea. Most of it's neighbors distrust it.
Most of it talk and not even that heavily publicized.....recently a senior diplomat made a very clear invasion threat to Taiwan.
However, I believe that maybe in the part of the world where you reside (Australia) there is probably more media coverage on this since is closer to home.
Last edited by saturno_v; 02-07-2018 at 11:13 PM..
Anyone can claim anything these days. It's hard to tell truth from fiction. The only people claiming it was a coup are those who have a poor grasp of geopolitics. The black and white crowd. Either the US/Europe is at fault or Russia is at fault. There is no middle ground.
I have a degree in engineering. I'm not satisfied with such simple explanations. I look for real answers, not the generic copy paste "it was a coup" crowd. Only babies talk like that.
To understand how the world works, you need to open your third eye. Let's take a scientific approach to the problem. People observe things in visible light and draw conclusions. Im looking at things in infrared, x-ray, gamma-ray...
If we are to accept that Russia can have Crimea, then why can't Israel claim the West Bank? Russia is about 900 times bigger than Israel.
Why should Ukraine be at the mercy of Russia? If NATO wishes to accept them, then Russia needs to accept that. I've already told you that the reverse holds true, so there's no need to bring up Russian bases in Venezuela.
I'm an engineer too.....and I surely agree that there is no black and white and my posts do not imply that in the slightest....I have no particular sympathy for Putin, he is an autocrat, he can be ruthless, etc...but, as you said, we live in the real world and certain "political systems" cannot be applied everywhere...remember the ill-fated "export of democracy at the muzzle of a rifle" in the Middle East??
Russia is a huge and complex countries with several ethnic groups and a sizable Muslim population in the south part of the country....it is very difficult to govern.
I do not subscribe to the idea that Russia is the victim and the west is hell bent on destroy it neither to the theory that the west is right and just and morally pristine where Russia (or just Putin) is the aggressor, the evil big bad bear.
I have no illusion that Russia dos not engages in propaganda...they do and so is the West, it works both way. There is no right or wrong in Ukraine...simply a big chunk of the population in the eastern regions did not accept leaving Russia orbit...simple
Russia has accepted that Ukraine is irreversibly going away from their sphere of influence but Ukraine must accept that the eastern part of the country and Crimea will not accept to sever their ties to Russia....Russia is not going to invade Ukraine, Putin is not stupid.
I brought up the base in Venezuela or Cuba not because I thought you personally were considering that unacceptable (you think in terms of principles which is the right way to see things) but I can guarantee you that the US would consider that totally intolerable....sorry but we do not live in a principled world...this is the reality.
Last edited by saturno_v; 02-07-2018 at 11:11 PM..
One more time; that's not the point.
The point is, the conflict in Ukraine is not really about the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. It's a proxy war, it's about the conflict between the US and Russia. Ukraine is a battle ground between these two.
I am pretty sure that rebels did it. Not deliberately of course - why would they want to destroy the foreign civil airplane?
The problem is, Poroshenko the idiot didn't want to acknowledge that he unleashed the war in the Eastern part of the country, so he should have close the air traffic over there. Which he didn't, because he was risking to not to receive the IMF loans from what I remember.
It be good to see the Rebels admit they shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight. After all the US did admit on hitting an Iranian passenger plane and that killed a similar number as the Malaysia airlines flight. The rebels ransacking the passengers bags are disturbing. Sure I could understand their reasons to separate from Ukraine, yet their actions in response to this incident is really sad.
Anyway does Putin have control or limited control of the rebels in East Ukraine?
The Russian military performance in Syria hasn't been overwhelming at all. The territorial gains by the Syrian government were from SAA, Iran, and Hezbollah. American backed SDF accomplished more in Syria by taking more territory and booting ISIS from its capital. Taking credit for what Iranians spilled blood for is unsurprising...
Russia has now and when it entered limited it's involvement in the fighting. They don't have a lot of boots on the ground. They've mainly provided air support/intel and logistics to the SAA. Assad was clearly losing the battle when Russia stepped in to help militarily in Oct 2015. SInce then the situation has turned 180 degrees. Russia has completed every goal it set with the exception of ending the war which is mainly due to outside interference. Support of the terrorists from the US, EU and certain gulf states.
The reason it's taking so long is the SAA and foreign interference/support of the terrorists. The SAA has a problem with manpower, they don't have enough men on the ground to bring this to a quick end. 50000 Russian troops would be able to restore the peace in Syria in short order but the cost in Russian lives and treasure would be higher than Russian citizens would be willing to pay undoubtedly.
The citizens of Syria will continue to suffer for some time. Unless the western powers and their lackeys stop supporting terrorism.
Anyone can claim anything these days. It's hard to tell truth from fiction. The only people claiming it was a coup are those who have a poor grasp of geopolitics. The black and white crowd. Either the US/Europe is at fault or Russia is at fault. There is no middle ground.
Yes, it's hard to tell truth from fiction but if you dig enough you'll find patterns, little needles in haystacks that after time can be put together to come to a conclusion not far from reality. You being an engineer should understand this ffs.
There's different ways to look at things too. There's cause and effect, action and reaction. Example. I do not think the EU, Russia or the US is ULTIMATELY at fault here. The government of Ukraine is. The goverment of Ukraine has allowed this to happen. Were the government doing its job Ukraine would be a strong independant bridge between Russia and the west, not the ***** of one or the other.
There are shades of grey, when you widen your perspective for a broader view you find that there is black and white involved in what is unfolding in front of you.
Yes, it's hard to tell truth from fiction but if you dig enough you'll find patterns, little needles in haystacks that after time can be put together to come to a conclusion not far from reality. You being an engineer should understand this ffs.
There's different ways to look at things too. There's cause and effect, action and reaction. Example. I do not think the EU, Russia or the US is ULTIMATELY at fault here. The government of Ukraine is. The goverment of Ukraine has allowed this to happen. Were the government doing its job Ukraine would be a strong independant bridge between Russia and the west, not the ***** of one or the other.
There are shades of grey, when you widen your perspective for a broader view you find that there is black and white involved in what is unfolding in front of you.
Well, allowed or not allowed, there is still the question. But the fact that without outside help,there would be no coup, it is a fact. Customers ,even on the work done came to watch,not a bit ashamed.
A scandal in Estonia, the issue is Russia & music:
I must say that gymnasium is perhaps the most "elite" and prestigious in whole country. Russophobes here are het-up because soon is 100th birthday of estonian republic.
No Estonian media channel what publishes normally news in English as well has for some reason so far made no news about it, thus I can not post a english link.
I am pretty sure that rebels did it. Not deliberately of course - why would they want to destroy the foreign civil airplane?
The problem is, Poroshenko the idiot didn't want to acknowledge that he unleashed the war in the Eastern part of the country, so he should have close the air traffic over there. Which he didn't, because he was risking to not to receive the IMF loans from what I remember.
I remember that late spring and early summer 2014 very well. Porkochunko and Yatz had basically 2 factions in government and showing the government was in control was paramount to the IMF representatives and western perception in general. They weren't going to go giving freebies away if the government was weak.
A scandal in Estonia, the issue is Russia & music:
I must say that gymnasium is perhaps the most "elite" and prestigious in whole country. Russophobes here are het-up because soon is 100th birthday of estonian republic.
No Estonian media channel what publishes normally news in English as well has for some reason so far made no news about it, thus I can not post a english link.
Ha-ha, if the director of that gymnasium is not going to be murdered ( in connection with this concert devoted to Soviet music,) I wonder whether they'll include such popular Soviet singer as Тынис Мяги, to acknowledge contribution of Estonian people to mentioned above "Soviet Music" ?
There is no right or wrong in Ukraine...simply a big chunk of the population in the eastern regions did not accept leaving Russia orbit...simple
Russia has accepted that Ukraine is irreversibly going away from their sphere of influence but Ukraine must accept that the eastern part of the country and Crimea will not accept to sever their ties to Russia....Russia is not going to invade Ukraine, Putin is not stupid.
This is correct, as Russia is often correct in its conclusions but it does not understand the "why". I used to think this was deliberate but I'm starting to believe they genuinely do not understand what motivates non Russian ways of thinking. I guess communism did this to their culture? I don't know... but understanding the why Ukraine wanted to be in the EU association is really going to help Russia (not Putin) put the pieces back together again if it wants to restore relations with Ukraine and Europe.
This applies to the many other things too, such as the sanctions. Publicly Russian shows they do not get WHY the civilized world has sanctions on their country. Is it out of ignorance, wishful thinking or deliberate misinformation? What is the reason for constantly shifting the why to something that it isn't? This is not going to solve the problem, just help Putin look better by lying to the whole nation.
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because soon is 100th birthday of estonian republic. 
