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Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine

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Re: Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine

#111

Post by thraneh »

wahern wrote: post #86
thraneh wrote: post #4

A lot of current news feels very biased, even from sources I previously found unbiased. Fortunately I was recently shared a link to John Mearsheimers 2015 YT video where he very clearly explains what has led to the current situation. In that light I now feel it's a lot easier to filter the news.

> A lot of current news feels very biased, even from sources I previously found unbiased. I wholeheartedly agree. I feel like I could write an entire book of what it reveals about the state of Western culture. But when something is so obnoxious I try to remind myself to be especially careful about how I react. Because one of the other obnoxious things about contemporary Western culture is how partisan political senti…

> I try to remind myself to be especially careful about how I react

This is good advice and possibly a fault on my part. Coming from a deep frustration about not being able to make sense of current news, then finding out about Mearsheimer, it is very easy to see it as the truth.

> One of the flaws in his PoV is that none of it actually justifies Russia's behavior

I am not looking to find justifications. What happens in Ukraine is awful. There are no excuses.

What is the problem is that I (as Danish person) feel a great injustice has been seeded by the West and that no European politician now takes that responsibility upon them. On the contrary, they only repeat the narrative that this is the fault of Russia and, obviously, Putin.

That's probably what should be expected during times of war. Answering the "why?" is very difficult without the historical background and the interpretations from people like yourself.

Re: Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine

#112

Post by 331c8c71 »

dragonwriter wrote: post #51
warner_of_doom wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am all for making Poland and the Baltics a hard red-line front that we protect against Russia. But, taking Ukraine from Russia in this non-neutral manner is just wrong. We can easily hold the Polish and Baltic fronts. And, Russia can live with that too. We can then trade as usual.

> But, taking Ukraine from Russia in this non-neutral manner Taking Ukraine from Russia? What have Russia the right to take Ukraine from (checks) Ukraine?

What gives US the right to take Ukraine from Ukraine? Thats where the story started

Re: Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine

#113

Post by dang »

jimbob45 wrote: post #20

[Removed]

Please don't post in the flamewar style to HN, regardless of what you're flaming. It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for. We've had to ask you this kind of thing many times in the past.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine

#114

Post by warner_of_doom »

ceilingcorner wrote: post #64
warner_of_doom wrote: post #38

Seeing this play out in the media reminds me of the Iraq War hysteria in 2003. Completely one-sided coverage, classic war-time propaganda (ghost of kiev), banning Russian arts and paralympians, etc. I've lost all faith in the media. Period. You may think that there is an absolute answer to this situation, but there isn't. I recommend that you study commentators and scholars such as: John Mearsheimer, Zbigniew Brezins…

I have studied this situation nonstop for the last week and I pretty much have the same opinion as you. If you ask a simple question, Cui bono? (Who benefits?) it becomes clear that it’s ultimately another military industrial complex project. The sad part is that the only real victims here are the Ukrainian people, who were led along with false promises. Had NATO been wiser, none of this would be happening.

This is also playing right into NATO's hands in a way.

But, after reading the authors I mentioned closely, I now realize that this is a war for control/negative-control over natural resources (grain, oil, gas, fertilizers, etc.). Also, this is about geostrategic security (anchoring at the Carpathian mountains and Bessarabia Gap).

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CNeDtZmpjU

And: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If61baWF4GE

Re: Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine

#115

Post by empressplay »

erichocean wrote: post #47
jimbob45 wrote: post #20

[Removed]

> So America is at fault because they wanted to protect Ukraine from invasion by a foreign power? Russia has just invaded, where is the US? Certainly not protecting Ukraine. Pretty clear the US has no desired to protect Ukraine. They certainly could if they wanted to, right now. What the US and her allies do have is a strong desire to hurt Russia, and they're doing a great job at that since the conflict began. But ac…

Russia has declared NATO occupation of Ukraine (a natural result of defending it) an 'existential threat', which is a prelude to the use of nuclear weapons. This is a ticket it gets to punch once, at Ukraine's expense.

Re: Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine

#116

Post by warner_of_doom »

thraneh wrote: post #70
warner_of_doom wrote: post #38

Seeing this play out in the media reminds me of the Iraq War hysteria in 2003. Completely one-sided coverage, classic war-time propaganda (ghost of kiev), banning Russian arts and paralympians, etc. I've lost all faith in the media. Period. You may think that there is an absolute answer to this situation, but there isn't. I recommend that you study commentators and scholars such as: John Mearsheimer, Zbigniew Brezins…

This is spot on! What has shocked me is how easily the narrative has been pushed in the EU. There has not been much backing for less confrontation. On the contrary, EU more than anything, is escalating by imposing economic sanctions on the Russian people. (Does sanctions ever do anything else than push people into poverty?) Everything appears to be designed to push Putin into a corner so he has no choice but to use t…

Not to mention the fact that these sanctions are going to make poor people starve. Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine make up a huge chunk of world grain, fertilizer, oil, and gas exports.

In the Grand Chessboard, former NSA Zbigniew Brzezinski openly talks about oil and gas pipelines and diverting them away from Russia. That's what this war is really about.

Re: Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine

#117

Post by avasylev »

warner_of_doom wrote: post #38

Seeing this play out in the media reminds me of the Iraq War hysteria in 2003. Completely one-sided coverage, classic war-time propaganda (ghost of kiev), banning Russian arts and paralympians, etc. I've lost all faith in the media. Period. You may think that there is an absolute answer to this situation, but there isn't. I recommend that you study commentators and scholars such as: John Mearsheimer, Zbigniew Brezins…

> Completely one-sided coverage

I'm not sure what else you expected, it's completely one-sided issue - one side started and continues the war. One side can stop this war at any time.

Did you expect 50-50 coverage, with 50% repeating Putin's propaganda?

Re: Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine

#118

Post by warner_of_doom »

bbatha wrote: post #78

My problem with Mearsheimer and the other realists is they have a very poor explanation why the status quo changes. Yes great power competition explains why tensions are high but does little explain why and when they spill over to war. Notably absent from this article is any discussion of "why now?". Commenters in the thread are saying that his 2015 article on the subject could be written last week. That's precisely…

No post body was provided.

Re: Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine

#119

Post by warner_of_doom »

ceilingcorner wrote: post #87
bbatha wrote: post #78

My problem with Mearsheimer and the other realists is they have a very poor explanation why the status quo changes. Yes great power competition explains why tensions are high but does little explain why and when they spill over to war. Notably absent from this article is any discussion of "why now?". Commenters in the thread are saying that his 2015 article on the subject could be written last week. That's precisely…

Baltics are easily neutralized with taking the Suwalki gap. The Russians were also not happy with them joining NATO, but couldn’t do much about it. And Ukraine (Kievan Rus) is the center of eastern Slavic civilization and therefore much more important to Putin than a largely unrelated culture in Latvia, Lithuania, etc. Otherwise yes I do think Mearsheimer is a little too mechanical in his theories and doesn’t factor…

Once Russia has Ukraine, they will have met most of their core geostrategic security objectives. If they go any farther, then it will be WW3 as it should be.

Re: Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine

#120

Post by sharken »

empressplay wrote: post #110
sharken wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An interesting theory, but hardly comparable to what is going on in Ukraine. Canada is not compatible with Russia, so forming a military alliance is a crazy idea. Putin is the aggressor who has invaded an European country just because their actions did not suit him. There are no acceptable excuses for the invasion, it's a very dangerous game he is playing as Russia cannot live with the sanctions in the long run. At t…

It doesn't matter if it's a crazy idea or not. The US simply would not permit Canada to align with Russia and would use military force to do so, and certainly before Russia had the opportunity to station troops in Canada. Would the Americans' actions be 'wrong' from Canada's point of view? Of course. Would they be 'right' from America's point of view? Absolutely! That's the point here. Both sides are simultaneously b…

Perhaps it is, but my use of crazy was to state that a democratic USA would not invade a democratic Canada as you describe.

That only happens in cartoons.

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