this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2023
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The people of Ukraine didn't want to be Russian, they wanted to be more like the West. Their leader at the time wanted Ukraine to get in bed with Russia and the rest of the East. They ousted him. Putin seized on their moment of weakness and instability by invading.
Could the US have played a role? Yeah but every country with the ability to project any power almost certainly did as well. That's just geopolitics at work for better or worse.
Every single country on Earth exerts influence on the others to benefit themselves. Look at Ukraine cozying up with the West right now to get weapons and notice how the US, UK, and other Western nations are happily obliging. Ukraine wants to be Western and the West would love another long-term ally, especially one next to Russia. Anyone really think Eastern nations don't do the same thing? China is exerting a ton of influence in Africa right now, and it's not out of the goodness of their hearts - it's quite predatory actually so they're no different than the US in that regard.
This is an excellent lecture (though admittedly quite long) which provides some much needed context on these issues.
The University of Chicago: Why is Ukraine the West's Fault? Featuring John Mearsheimer
"I'm not a tankie, I just parrot all of their talking points and their weird, myopic rhetorical style."
"China doesn't require austerity"
Please expand on exactly what you think this means.
The west isn't the good guy but you're nuts if you think China isn't sucking Africa dry.
I just watched a documentary recently (I will genuinely try to find it again and link here if I can) where Native African workers were being put out of business by China in their own country. China is mining for rare Earth metals using Chinese workers and trapping a lot of these countries in debts they won't be able to pay back. Once I saw it coming from the mouths of Native Africans, I knew it wasn't propaganda from either side. Straight to the source - people who live there and see it every day. They start out very grateful for China's assistance and then later on realize the trap they are in.
Here is some other info: https://apnews.com/article/china-debt-banking-loans-financial-developing-countries-collapse-8df6f9fac3e1e758d0e6d8d5dfbd3ed6
There's plenty of info of African leaders thanking China approach in Africa. African leaders are not dumb , if China offers a better credit card and infrastructure plans than some western countries they will choose that. Yes, it's that simple.