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Русский корабль - иди нахуй


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8 hours ago, Rimbo said:

 

I mean, this is a nice sentiment and all, but what did Russia do to provoke Napoleon's invasion?

It doesn't matter if they're nice or not. Some dickhead will come to power and decide to invade everything he can. No matter how nice Russia is, someone will want to capture Moscow. Maybe not this century or the next, but eventually, and that threat is always there for Moscow.

Moscow will always have a geopolitical need for a buffer zone.

I mean, in one of @Chad Fuck's own examples, Germany played nice with Russia, only to invade. So being nice won't work.

The point I'm making here is the same point Poland and Ukraine and other Eastern Europeans have made: Russia is an existential threat to them, because Moscow will always have a need to build this buffer zone.

The problem is three-fold. First, Russia does not understand “buffer state,” it understands “puppet state.” Belarus is Russia’s idea of a “buffer state.” I’ve posted before about Russia’s history of manipulating post-USSR Ukraine and won’t do it again, but it’s safe to say that an independent and non-aligned Ukraine that governs itself (like Austria, or pre-2022 Finland) was never on the table. Worth noting that the outburst of Russian rage in 2014 was not about NATO, it was about a EU trade and economic agreement. 
 

Ukraine (and Belarus) have a special role in the Russian imperial imagination. Russia with those states under its thumb IS an Empire.  Russia without them is a weak, half-European backwater. That has been true throughout Russia’s history.   Ukraine is far more about Russia’s ambitions for itself than it is about steppeland as geographic insulation. 
 

The third factor at play is that the further out Russia pushes its borders, the less secure it feels and the more it demands. Letting Russia have their “buffer” only further confuses Russia about where Russia ends. 

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6 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

The problem is three-fold. First, Russia does not understand “buffer state,” it understands “puppet state.” Belarus is Russia’s idea of a “buffer state.” I’ve posted before about Russia’s history of manipulating post-USSR Ukraine and won’t do it again, but it’s safe to say that an independent and non-aligned Ukraine that governs itself (like Austria, or pre-2022 Finland) was never on the table. Worth noting that the outburst of Russian rage in 2014 was not about NATO, it was about a EU trade and economic agreement. 
 

Ukraine (and Belarus) have a special role in the Russian imperial imagination. Russia with those states under its thumb IS an Empire.  Russia without them is a weak, half-European backwater. That has been true throughout Russia’s history.   Ukraine is far more about Russia’s ambitions for itself than it is about steppeland as geographic insulation. 
 

The third factor at play is that the further out Russia pushes its borders, the less secure it feels and the more it demands. Letting Russia have their “buffer” only further confuses Russia about where Russia ends. 

Good post. It is important to remember the expansion of the Russian empire from a small walled village to what it became was in part the incorporation of Buffer states. The Caucus adventures were in part to create a buffer against Turkey. The "Stans" to slow down the British in India and Afghanistan. Once they are incorporated they are then considered historical parts of the Empire, ceasing to just be buffer states. 

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17 hours ago, Rimbo said:

This is worth repeating.

Russia's need for a buffer between it and Western Europe isn't going away. Moscow is vulnerable to attack from the West; there's few natural boundaries between them. And they've been invaded twice in the past few centuries for just that reason. So they've always wanted buffer states to add distance between Moscow and the West.

The trouble is, by trying to seize the land by deception and force, Putin has made their situation infinitely worse. How far is new NATO member Finland from St. Petersburg? And Ukrainian nationalism has been galvanized by the invasion.

Things are as bad for Russia as they've been since the Mongols invaded.

Russia tells themselves this, but let’s look a little closer and deeper. 
 
Russia has been invaded twice in the past 220 years- by Napoleon and Hitler. In either case, did those “buffer states” make a difference? Did cutting deals with the aggressors help?

What did help? Being on the same side as the UK seemed like it helped. 
 
Looking at Russian western expansion over the last couple of centuries, it seems like the purpose of having “buffer states” has more to do with marking out future turf for Russian expansion (invasion) than security. 

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those are the two times Moscow was threatened. 

Poland invaded right after WW1. 

You can kind of say the US/UK did as well with the Murmansk actions in 1918.

Turkey invaded a few of the buffer areas as well. Crimea was part of the Ottoman Empire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Russo-Turkish_wars

Not making any excuses for Russia. Fuck them and their fear.  Just wanted to add to why they think they need buffers. 

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7 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

The third factor at play is that the further out Russia pushes its borders, the less secure it feels and the more it demands. Letting Russia have their “buffer” only further confuses Russia about where Russia ends. 

Oh, y'all don't actually think I'm suggesting we ALLOW Russia to have their "buffer," do you?

I'm merely explaining, beyond recent cultural norms, beyond recent history, what has and always will drive Muscovites to push itself Eastwards. A thousand years from now, Moscow will still feel a need to push East. 

The issue here is geography. Without a mountain range or ocean on that border, they'll always need more.

Unless, of course, there's no Moscow left. 😁

Edited by Rimbo
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38 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

those are the two times Moscow was threatened. 

Poland invaded right after WW1. 

You can kind of say the US/UK did as well with the Murmansk actions in 1918.

Turkey invaded a few of the buffer areas as well. Crimea was part of the Ottoman Empire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Russo-Turkish_wars

Not making any excuses for Russia. Fuck them and their fear.  Just wanted to add to why they think they need buffers. 

I don’t think the post WWI events were about invading as much as trying to get involved in internal Russian squabbling to undo the usurping by the Bolsheviks and throw control over to saner factions. As for the Turks- that’s what happens when two nations want the same “buffer”. 

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1 hour ago, statsman said:

Russia tells themselves this, but let’s look a little closer and deeper. 
 
Russia has been invaded twice in the past 220 years- by Napoleon and Hitler. In either case, did those “buffer states” make a difference? Did cutting deals with the aggressors help?

What did help? Being on the same side as the UK seemed like it helped. 
 
Looking at Russian western expansion over the last couple of centuries, it seems like the purpose of having “buffer states” has more to do with marking out future turf for Russian expansion (invasion) than security. 

Well... yeah.

They want those warm water ports, and they want distance from independent nations where there otherwise are no natural borders.

These things don't change from century to century.

And again, just so it's clear... I'm telling you why Moscow will always be a threat, why putting every effort into draining them now that we have a chance, is so important. Why making sure that Russia, at the end of all this, is near collapse or collapsing, is necessary for Europe's security. But not so much that they get desperate and launch nukes... which is where the delicate balance comes in.

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https://news.yahoo.com/russia-alarmed-no-us-visas-033903929.html

 

This is delightful.

 

Quote

“To ensure timely processing, we repeatedly remind the Russian Mission to the U.N., as we do all other U.N. missions, that the United States needs applications as early as possible,” said the spokesperson, who was not authorized to be quoted by name.

“This is especially important," the U.S. spokesperson said, “because of Russia’s unwarranted actions against our embassy in Russia, including the forced termination of local and third country national staff, which have severely limited our staffing and therefore our capacity to process visas.”

 

 

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2 hours ago, Rimbo said:

Oh, y'all don't actually think I'm suggesting we ALLOW Russia to have their "buffer," do you?

I'm merely explaining, beyond recent cultural norms, beyond recent history, what has and always will drive Muscovites to push itself Eastwards. A thousand years from now, Moscow will still feel a need to push East. 

The issue here is geography. Without a mountain range or ocean on that border, they'll always need more.

Unless, of course, there's no Moscow left. 😁

Fuckers push at all compass points, until they run into someone who can handle them. 

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