Red Mosquito

BurtReynolds wrote:There is nothing particularly interesting or unique about Russian nationalism. You have no idea what I'm talking about.

You have to take the scale and military power of it into consideration, as well as the all encompassing place it has in society. It is also very aggressive from the very top, and aims to indoctrinate and/or subjugate the majority of its neighbors and its own people. It allows next to no dissenting voices, and worries little about their soldiers looting or raping their way forward.

The most natural comparison in modern times is China. Another large military power, a financial powerhouse, ruled by their Communist party, they have certainly killed their fair share of journalists and opposing thinkers. They have also shown militarily that they mean business. China is a dictatorship, while Russia has a failed democracy, after a long history of dictatorship. But China’s nationalism (and patriotism) is far more split, and ultimately far less aggressive to their neighbors. And we could probably write a few thousand words more about the differences between China and Russia, both in general, bur also how they are ruled today.

Russia had advanced to Toretsk now.

tragabigzanda wrote:

Stickman wrote:North Korean soldiers are deserting

wouldn't their families be jailed/killed based on NK's "guilty by association" laws?

yes

Ukraine’s Drone Strikes Push Russia’s Black Sea Fleet to Relocate

Finally

“Zelensky: I’ll give up Ukrainian territory to Russia to achieve peace“

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/ ... y-ukraine/

Between that statement, the absolute disaster Putin is facing in Syria this weekend, the state of things in Georgia, and the collapse of the ruble, if Putin isn’t open to peace now…you know he’s just not gonna be.

McParadigm wrote:Between that statement, the absolute disaster Putin is facing in Syria this weekend, the state of things in Georgia, and the collapse of the ruble, if Putin isn’t open to peace now…you know he’s just not gonna be.

Are Wagner/ Africacorps still viewed as viable alternatives to US or French military advisors in Africa, or have they lost that as well?

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/12/ ... ncy-a87206

Long story short: the Oreshnik missile (the “new type of missile” Putin threatened to hit Ukraine’s “decision-making centers” with) was a prototype test run. They are at least five years away from being able to produce them, and probably more. The whole thing was a PR stunt, because Western governments don’t believe Putin‘s nuclear threats the way they used to.

At the end of the day, it must be really hard to convince people you’re a psychopath who might tilt nuclear at any moment, when you’re really just a petty dictator who doesn’t wanna die.

and with a worthless currency

tragabigzanda wrote:Weird gotcha, McP. The maturation — or lack thereof — of one missile offering unique strategic benefits shouldn’t underscore a central assessment of Putin’s willingness to engage in nuclear warfare

I’m not sure why you see it as a gotcha. That’s a confusing lens to read it through, for me.

The dry reporting of it is: Putin recognizes that western intelligence services are increasingly skeptical of his nuclear threats (which seems borne out by the way western governments are crossing his proclaimed red lines with increasing abandon), so he manufactured a PR stunt to suggest a new threat….one that essentially does not exist, in that it isn’t actually capable of further strategic use and won’t be for up to a decade.

The psychology of fear is one of Putin‘s favored weapons of war. It is not a gotcha to recognize when someone who is utilizing the psychology of fear gets caught bluffing…especially when that bluff is specifically meant to distract from the fact that they aren’t following through on other threats.

“Lol Putin” strikes me as an oddly jingoistic position to take

This is even weirder to me, and I have no idea why the rest of this post is about the United States.

McParadigm wrote:
The psychology of fear is one of Putin‘s favored weapons of war. It is not a gotcha to recognize when someone who is utilizing the psychology of fear gets caught bluffing…especially when that bluff is specifically meant to distract from the fact that they aren’t following through on other threats.

The calculus has changed with Trump's victory.