Other stuff

[Gavagai]

On the topic of nuclear war - this is an article I wrote soon after the invasion

I did not realize we had a real journalist on the forums...that was an extremely well written article & I enjoyed the analysis.  You way want to invest in a geiger counter test test your drinks, and only stay in hotel rooms with windows that don't open.

Darrell

Thank you for your kind words. But I am not a journalist, I consider myself a scholar. And writing op-eds is highly atypical for me. This text was written just a few days after the invasion when I was very deep in emotions and could not think straight. Even though I still endorse the main line of the argument, some of the things I said in the article I now regret.

[Mjmd]

I mean it may not have happened if Trump was president because Trump was giving Putin everything he wanted while weakening all the US alliances. Even before he tried to overthrow our democracy one of my main critics of Trump was his handling of  foreign policy.

The Biden administration has had really good solid non tweet based foreign policy. They started giving increased aid to Ukraine more than a year in advance including sending some training teams there in key areas like cyber security. I suspect most of the foreign policy isn't handled by him directly although he has a lot of experience.

[Gavagai]

I mean it may not have happened if Trump was president because Trump was giving Putin everything he wanted while weakening all the US alliances.

This is the mantra that is repeated by every left-wing talking head in American political and intellectual elite. If they don't repeat it they would have to look into moral abyss they created, so they say this because there is nothing else for them to say. I could easily show that it is false technically by starting to list things that Putin wanted and Trump did not give him. That exercise alone should make you suspect that you what you recite here is an empty slogan, not a serious argument. But we can make run a different test of who is truly a Russian spy here that is a bit more fair. Name me the most valuable thing Trump gave Putin and we will compare it with things Biden did for him.
On Biden's foreign policy generally strongly disagree, I do not remember time when US behaved as erratic and stupid as now. But that best reserved for some other discussion.

[Gavagai]

I suspect most of the foreign policy isn't handled by him directly although he has a lot of experience.

Forgot this. I suggest you to think through very carefully the implications of what you have said here.

[Mjmd]

I suspect most of the foreign policy isn't handled by him directly although he has a lot of experience.

Forgot this. I suggest you to think through very carefully the implications of what you have said here.

The best leaders delegate, listen to ideas, and then decide. Shockingly I don't expect any one person to have full knowledge and ideas for all the worlds complex geopolitics. So yes, I think most of the ideas come from you know experts. 

One of Trumps many problems is he always thought he knew best and anyone who disagreed with he got rid of. Surrounding yourself with yes men is not good for any part of ruling.

[Ginger*]

Gav, I’m curious what you make of Russian state media that claims that they are already at war with NATO or have engaged (and ofc defeated) NATO battalions in Ukraine. This lie always puzzled me because it seems to suggest that their opponent has already crossed your Red Line or Chinese Final Warning or whatnot that they’ve set. To what extent is this stance taken seriously and to what extent is it the negotiator exaggerating because he’s expected to?

[Mjmd]

I mean it may not have happened if Trump was president because Trump was giving Putin everything he wanted while weakening all the US alliances.

This is the mantra that is repeated by every left-wing talking head in American political and intellectual elite. If they don't repeat it they would have to look into moral abyss they created, so they say this because there is nothing else for them to say. I could easily show that it is false technically by starting to list things that Putin wanted and Trump did not give him. That exercise alone should make you suspect that you what you recite here is an empty slogan, not a serious argument. But we can make run a different test of who is truly a Russian spy here that is a bit more fair. Name me the most valuable thing Trump gave Putin and we will compare it with things Biden did for him.
On Biden's foreign policy generally strongly disagree, I do not remember time when US behaved as erratic and stupid as now. But that best reserved for some other discussion.

Biden has returned to more normal American foreign policy. Doing some alliance building and network building in general. Could they do better in areas 100%. 

I don't think Trump was a Russian spy or puppet or any of that jazz. Praising Putin, reduced sanctions, inaction on Russian wrongdoings, creating discord in NATO; off the top of my head. What has Biden given him other than a harder fight in Ukraine? Again, $1B in aid arrived after Biden took office before Russia invaded and there is pretty good evidence US leveraging its intelligence network and tried to warn Ukraine both publicly and privately.

[Mjmd]

Gav, I’m curious what you make of Russian state media that claims that they are already at war with NATO or have engaged (and ofc defeated) NATO battalions in Ukraine. This lie always puzzled me because it seems to suggest that their opponent has already crossed your Red Line or Chinese Final Warning or whatnot that they’ve set. To what extent is this stance taken seriously and to what extent is it the negotiator exaggerating because he’s expected to?

Different messages are for difference audiences. In this case the audience is internal. If Russia wasn't at war with NATO you see it might be embarrassing they are failing so hard.

[Gavagai]

I suspect most of the foreign policy isn't handled by him directly although he has a lot of experience.

Forgot this. I suggest you to think through very carefully the implications of what you have said here.

The best leaders delegate, listen to ideas, and then decide. Shockingly I don't expect any one person to have full knowledge and ideas for all the worlds complex geopolitics. So yes, I think most of the ideas come from you know experts. 

One of Trumps many problems is he always thought he knew best and anyone who disagreed with he got rid of. Surrounding yourself with yes men is not good for any part of ruling.

Here is a story about Trump and delegation.
In 2018 Saudi opposition activist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered in Istanbul by Saudite agents. America effectively condoned the murder failing to take any effective punitive action against Saudi Arabia. I found the statement Trump issued after the event: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/20/polit...index.html The content of this statement is quite incredible but what is most important about it is the fact that Trump wrote it by himself and did not allow much editing, save grammar. This is beyond doubt - his writing style is very recognizable and known from his tweets.
The fact that he did not "delegate" this task to an aide like any sane politician would do, says everything you need to know about his moral character. It shows that he was a better leader than any other member of the current American political elite. And it also explains why it is very unlikely he would allow the war in Ukraine to happen. There are two types of people: those for whom such acts are the most natural thing to do and those to whom they would never occur. And I know very well to what kind of person I would trust all the power and responsibility associated with US Presidency.
It is sad and scary that the more intelligent part of America at some point lost the ability to differentiate between honor and dishonor.

[Gavagai]

Gav, I’m curious what you make of Russian state media that claims that they are already at war with NATO or have engaged (and ofc defeated) NATO battalions in Ukraine. This lie always puzzled me because it seems to suggest that their opponent has already crossed your Red Line or Chinese Final Warning or whatnot that they’ve set. To what extent is this stance taken seriously and to what extent is it the negotiator exaggerating because he’s expected to?

Fantasies for internal consumption, ignore it. You would not believe in what kind of lalaland most Russians live.