https://pjmedia.com/spengler/2022/0...there-was-no-one-there-to-begin-with-n1553825 It is sounding like the Ukraine “issue” is really over the hill American leaders longing for the predictability of Russia to take American minds off of China. NATO is pretty toothless and Biden has decided it needs a reason to exist. Given the stunning statistics in the article, we shall name that reason “Ukraine”.
There has to be something there in Ukraine that both sides want. Natural resources, strategic location value, something...
For Russia to be an empire, it has to have Ukraine. This isn't just Putin, it's a tradition that goes back to the Tsars. Once in a while, they go on the warpath, but they never developed a healthy economy, so it's doomed the day they start. Putin gambled, and he's losing big time. Strong man rulers that look weak are living on borrowed time. He has money, but this conflict has demonstrated just how limited that is. The cost of maintaining the military is considerable, and it's clear Putin has short changed military maintenance. He is simply not going to have the money to replace what he's losing in a timely fashion. What ended the war in Afghanistan was the mothers of dead soldiers protesting. He can arrest most with impunity, but not the mothers of dead patriots. "Thousand year Reichs have the lifespan of mayflies." The Expanse