Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 427 posts

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#241

Post by corrral »

jacobolus wrote: post #220
corrral wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Syria was the worst part, because the fallout from that was really bad. Not sure we'd have had Brexit without the extra pressure that put on Europe. Likely empowered Erdogan somewhat (doubt it made a big difference there, admittedly) and contributed to the rise of far right parties in Eastern Europe. Plus, you know, sucks for the Syrians. Nb. what I blame him for isn't the Syrian civil war itself, but for choosing to…

> Syria was the worst part, Agreed. Obama came in from the context of the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan and wanted to avoid another similar, and was too cautious and non-confrontational, especially once Russia got involved. > Pushing NATO members to meet their defense spending obligations ended up being damn-near prescient This was not “pushing” so much as “ineffective trash talking”. And it had nothing to do with making…

> Trump’s #1 foreign policy accomplishment was pulling the USA out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, undermining US economic and social power in the region to China’s great benefit.

Yeah, I know. Again, I'm not saying he was good. Just that I didn't think there'd even be a single half-assed compliment I'd be able to muster for anything he did. He exceeded sub-zero expectations, and probably, for whatever reason (yeah, likely largely ineffective management of his administration) at least didn't do anywhere near as much harm as the the guys who ran things the prior 16 years. Not via his foreign policy actions, at least.

Sorry if any of this came off as "I like most of Trump's foreign policy". What I'm getting at is that I'm pretty harsh even on popular Democratic presidents, and not incapable of admitting "that was kinda OK" with Republicans even when they're an actual no-BS joke like Trump, but still think Biden's not screwed the pooch so far (he still might, certainly) on foreign policy. And I'm inclined to dislike him because I'm getting really sick of ancient dudes sitting in the Oval Office—could we get a youthful 60-year-old, even? Please?—and don't care for a lot of his legislative record.

Point is, if Biden's badly screwing up foreign policy, this particular devoted foreign policy cynic isn't seeing it. But, again, there's always tomorrow.

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#242

Post by rurp »

colordrops wrote: post #38
yks wrote: post #29

The West could've ended this war by now if they just went all in on sending howitzers, MLRS and other heavy equipment into Ukraine but they keep slow dripping it, or just doing nothing like Germany. The most powerful societies in the world history just twiddle their thumbs while negative consequences keep mounting.

The US is interested in a protracted war in Ukraine to both make money for weapons and other supplies manufacturers, and to drain the Russian economy. The Ukraine war was precipitated by years of US machinations, despite media characterizations to the contrary.

I would believe that there are some defense contracting companies hoping for a protracted war, but "The US" in terms of political leadership is absolutely not. This war is hurting the US economy in a number of ways that will not be helpful during the next election.

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#243

Post by thereddaikon »

gambiting wrote: post #91
cpursley wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're getting downvoted by Americans with big fat paychecks in the Bay Area and other coastal cities on the energy self-sufficient North American content. Like it or not, Europe runs on Russian gas/oil/grain for the time being. The current crop of EU officials are probably not evil, but they are incredibly incompetent. By any object measure, the sanctions have filled the Russian Government's coffers and made Europe…

I downvoted them and I'm Polish - I see Ukrainian people on our streets every day, I hear their stories and their suffering all the time, my family is housing several refugees already. The stuff that Russia is doing to that country is making my blood boil. If anything, I'm incredibly upset that EU is not doing more to tighten the screw on Russia. If we are unwilling to send our militaries to fight Russia in Ukraine,…

If it wasn't for Russia having nukes I think your government may have already joined the war at this point. Poland has made Germany look really bad in how much more forthcoming its been in aiding Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#244

Post by AzzieElbab »

nemo44x wrote: post #227
AzzieElbab wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sure Ukrainians feel very sorry about inconveniencing Europeans but apparently they have decided to fight regardless of whether the West sends them weapons or not. At this point the West can watch them die or help them fight.

It doesn't really matter now. Russia is about to reclaim the Eastern lands it wanted and then we'll hear about "negotiated cease fire" and the war will be over and a pointless waste of lives will have occurred as well as trillions in economic damages. Russia literally had a 0% chance of losing this thing in the end. Ukraine did well to defend early and Russia certainly mismanaged the strategy. Going at the mainland w…

why do you assume Russia wanted only the Eastern lands? Putin said he wanted all of Ukraine. The invasion started with attempt to take Kyiv. Why level Kharkiv if all you want is Donbas?

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#245

Post by varjag »

LewisVerstappen wrote: post #228
varjag wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

> It's the spineless cowards like you who brought us to this point. Lmao okay buddy. I'd argue that emotionally-charged rhetoric like that is exactly what got the West (the US especially) into the mess in Iraq and Afghanistan. Charged rhetoric by emotional war hawks who kept shouting "you're either with us or against us" used to mask lies by US politicians and the media. Note - I'm not saying we do nothing to help Uk…

Oh yes Afghanistan where the fears of nuclear retaliation ran especially high.

But whatever. If Ukraine folds, 24-feb-2022 will be pinned in history books as the start of WW3 and in a few years all your fears will come to fruition. A coward dies a thousand deaths.

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#246

Post by d0mine »

zionic wrote: post #149
dxhdr wrote: post #62

Meanwhile RUB to USD is at its highest in nearly 5 years. Cutting Russia off from SWIFT has only strengthened their ties to India and China. Russia is still invading Ukraine, and now we're dealing with soaring food and energy prices at home. At some point you have to consider whether this level of diplomatic incompetence is intentional.

I’m concerned the following might play out: -Russia wins in Ukraine -The sanctions were ultimately ineffective, for the reasons you explain above -China takes Taiwan during major US political unrest, at BEST destroying the fabs and at worst gaining full control of the leading 3nm/2nm etc process -A deeper China-Russia alliance, which was expedited by our ineffective sanctions now, puts the screws to US/western compan…

> Russia wins in Ukraine

NATO population is 10 times that of Russia. The difference in economy/technology/production even more drastic. What winning are you talking about?

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#247

Post by labrador »

rajup wrote: post #192
labrador wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At some point you have to consider whether this level of diplomatic incompetence is intentional What would you suggest as an alternative? Continue doing business as usual as if they're not murdering women and children?

Puh-lease. Any other argument other than that tired argument. As if the US military has not been complicit in similar business around the world.

Which of the two, Russia or the US, would you rather live in and associate yourself with?

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#248

Post by 5e92cb50239222b »

aeternum wrote: post #194
VWWHFSfQ wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> diplomatic incompetence What other mechanisms does the world have to try to stop Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Boots on the ground?

Easier immigration. Smart people generally want to leave authoritarian governments. We've been making it increasingly difficult for almost 2 decades now. It's ridiculous that we turn them away when there is clear evidence that they grow the economic pie for everyone. It's also messed up that we don't consider the downstream effects of sanctions as collateral damage. How many millions of people can the west allow to s…

As somebody living under another strongman not far from Russia, I second that. Anybody with half a brain here wants to emigrate (and mostly not for economic reasons, but for political/social ones, and to get a chance to make something of yourself), but it's been close to impossible for at least 20 years unless you have millions in the bank (which an honest person is unlikely to have), or manage to win a green card lottery (which several of my acquaintances have done, but it's pure luck).

Pretty weird to read all these articles about shortages of IT professionals, and compare that to the immigration barriers your governments have put. Although I guess your typical HN visitor probably wouldn't be very interested in influx of cheap labor that will bring down his salary to sane levels.

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#249

Post by justsid »

sealeck wrote: post #221
sharken wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not a worthy thing to do for the US, people should have to adapt to higher prices as a cost of supporting Ukraine. As for the Arab spring, that never had a chance of working. Not even Turkey can deal with democracy and Islam.

Maybe for you "adapt to higher prices" is fine but for much of the world this will mean famine and starvation ( https://www.wfp.org/stories/hunger-famine-and-starvation-750... ) Also these aren't just minor increases, e.g. Allianz estimate a 31% increase in prices in 2021; for people who live hand to mouth in the developing world this is catastrophic.

Doesn’t even matter the cost, if there isn’t enough to go around people will starve whether they can afford it or not.

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#250

Post by mc32 »

themitigating wrote: post #224
ozzythecat wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Finally, Ukraine has the right to join any alliance it wants and for Russia to invade over that is bullshit. In geopolitics, nobody has any particular rights. Whoever has the bigger stick and better propaganda gets their way. One could argue that there’s no reason to have sanctions on Cuba, that Palestinians should also have the right to self determination, that America doesn’t have the right to interfere in the de…

So "do this or we'll invade"? Why does it matter if a NATO country is on the border anyway? In the age of ICBMs, stealth bombers, and drones is the real concern that some large NATO force would march over the border for a land invasion of Russia?

Isn't it much the same as VietNam, don't help the NVA or we'll help them split and take over NV (though it worked out the other way around)?
Post reply on HN