US Foreign Policy 3.0: We're The Mets of International Diplomacy

[Drew S.]

War sucks. You didn't give a fuck when it was George Bush doing it.

Maybe you shouldn't have been supporting those who support Putin?

Very fair criticism on Iraq. I’ve thought a lot the last week how this puts into perspective how awful that was. Democracy was never going to work there and we caused tons of death and chaos for nothing.

If there is one thing I’ve learned reading about history it’s that appeasement doesn’t work. You can kick the can down the road some but that only goes so far. Biden has done an amazing job so far but with Russia’s escalation today it’s putting us in a place we don’t want to be and there are tough decisions to be made.

 

[Jimjamesak]

I’m not the one indiscriminately killing civilians.

So why are you advocating a policy that would undoubtedly lead to the deaths of billions of civilians?

 

[Russell Jaslow]

That huge Russian column that was seen headed toward Kyiv late yesterday? This might be part of it.

https://twitter.com/NewDay/status/1...ing-to-figure-out-why-Putin-s-army-suck-s-***

Sure hope so. They need to stop that convoy in its tracks. That would be a huge hit on Russia's efforts. And morale.

 

[SonofSouthie]

IOC grows a pair.

GENEVA -- In a sweeping move to isolate and condemn Russia after invading Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies on Monday to exclude the country's athletes and officials from international events.
The IOC said it was needed to "protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants."
The decision opened the way for FIFA, the governing body of soccer, to exclude Russia from a World Cup qualifying playoff match on March 24. Poland has refused to play the scheduled game against Russia.

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story...-russia-excluded-sports-amid-ukraine-invasion

 

[Russell Jaslow]

I hope we announce a no fly zone by the end of the day. Apparently Russia has killed scores of civilians today by bombing random neighborhoods.

Do you not understand that if we insert one military person into this war, we start WWIII?

 

[rufus]

So why are you advocating a policy that would undoubtedly lead to the deaths of billions of civilians?

Cause.......got guns.....gotta use them.

 

[dxmnkd316]

IOC grows a pair.


https://www.espn.com/olympics/story...-russia-excluded-sports-amid-ukraine-invasion

Maybe. Two years is a long ways away... I'm sure the coming mea culpa and the IOC issuing some wishy-washy statement about blah blah blah will be coming.

OTOH, russian bribes became a hell of a lot less valuable today.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Even though I'm guilty of this to some extent, I think he makes a very good point.

Paul Sonne

@PaulSonne
For those on this platform giddy about the plummet of the ruble, a word of caution: the severity of this will create forces beyond everyone's control. It could get very scary and not have the outcome you suspect.

Hitler rose from the ashes of Germany after WWI. We need to make sure we come out the other side of this with this idea very much in mind. Invite Russia to join the west and cautiously embrace it.

 

[BassAle]

Only 1 was ever built, meaning it’s more likely that you saw an AN-124 (4 engines rather than 6), but if you really did get to see it, that’s very cool. Even the -124 has more cargo capacity than a C-5 (our largest transport), and the -225 can carry almost 50% more than a -124. Insane.

The AN-225 does land in Bangor, ME occasionally although I'm not sure it's been here since 2020. There is a GE Power Systems plant at the airport that makes turbines, they might be one of the customers that charters the AN-225.

https://www.facebook.com/FlyBGR/phot...7117760531857/

you can see the cockpit view of it landing at Bangor starting around the 7 minute mark of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYKnlLgX6Sc

 

[SonofSouthie]

IOC grows a pair.


https://www.espn.com/olympics/story...-russia-excluded-sports-amid-ukraine-invasion

Start out small. Feather balls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1crhwQPKr7w

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Even though I'm guilty of this to some extent, I think he makes a very good point.



Hitler rose from the ashes of Germany after WWI. We need to make sure we come out the other side of this with this idea very much in mind. Invite Russia to join the west and cautiously embrace it.

I've been thinking about this. We have to be careful how much we punish Russia after this is all over.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Per AFP:

#BREAKING Russia bans all residents from transferring money abroad: Kremlin
#BREAKING Russian exporters must convert 80% of revenue into rubles: Kremlin

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Per AFP:

#BREAKING Russia bans all residents from transferring money abroad: Kremlin
#BREAKING Russian exporters must convert 80% of revenue into rubles: Kremlin

Is this really going to do anything? Is it just a Band-Aid for Russia's economic woes?

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

And these people all have guns! If this were here, people would be hoarding

https://twitter.com/andersostlund/status/1498250593030348802?s=21

 

[rufus]

Start out small. Feather balls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1crhwQPKr7w

Along those lines.

 

[dxmnkd316]

I've been thinking about this. We have to be careful how much we punish Russia after this is all over.

Absolutely. Need to be very (carefully) supportive. We need to make sure this peace lasts for as long as the last peace did.


(And no, I'm not forgetting about the Balkans. This is clearly different and represents a far greater danger to world peace than WWII.)

 

[dxmnkd316]

Is this really going to do anything? Is it just a Band-Aid for Russia's economic woes?

It's more like a tourniquet. It stops the bleeding but you still need help immediately.

 

[French Rage]

Even though I'm guilty of this to some extent, I think he makes a very good point.



Hitler rose from the ashes of Germany after WWI. We need to make sure we come out the other side of this with this idea very much in mind. Invite Russia to join the west and cautiously embrace it.

I don't think anyone wants Russia to 100% collapse forever and ever. But we want the Russian people to feel the squeeze in the short-term so they have more incentive to press on their leaders if/when things go south in this and take longer than expected. Yes, I know the government is clamping down on opposition there, but there's still ways to make their displeasure known. I don't know which numbers to trust, but some say half of the Russian populace is against this, and we don't want them punished forever after this, but we need them to get pissed off right now.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Something I've been thinking about as we see the EU basically "Avengers assemble!" the last 48 hours. How bad is Brexit now that we can look back in perfect 20:20 hindsight? Even though the UK has tried to (and to some extent successfully) position itself in a place of leadership and power with the reaction to Russia, I'm wondering just what impact their leaving is going to have.

I suspect a united Europe like we haven't seen since WWII is taking its first steps. You could even argue it's more united now than it was at any point before, during, or after WWII. And part of me wonder how much of this coming boom the UK will miss out on. It seems like such a spectacular self own now even more than it was a a year ago.

Anyways... UK and France have been brilliant at dragging the rest of Europe on board. Germany and Italy have looked particularly incompetent and self-serving. It's just amazing how much the playing field has shifted.

 

[dxmnkd316]

I don't think anyone wants Russia to 100% collapse forever and ever. But we want the Russian people to feel the squeeze in the short-term so they have more incentive to press on their leaders if/when things go south in this and take longer than expected. Yes, I know the government is clamping down on opposition there, but there's still ways to make their displeasure known. I don't know which numbers to trust, but some say half of the Russian populace is against this, and we don't want them punished forever after this, but we need them to get ****ed off right now.

Oh yeah. Definitely. The sanctions are the state equivalent to putting a hit on someone. The intention was to get Putin murdered.

It's so complicated and I'm not sure anyone knows the right answers. It's why you hire extremely bright, thoughtful people at STate who are well-versed in history.