"Russian annexation of Crimea and other parts of Ukraine is the first open violation of the UN Charter in decades."
Nope, even when I fully agree with author, which I, in general, do.
1. Tibet by China (1950): The People's Liberation Army invaded Tibet, and by 1951, the region was effectively annexed by China, which asserted its sovereignty over Tibet despite international criticism.
2. Goa by India (1961): India annexed Portuguese Goa after a military operation, leading to the end of Portuguese colonial rule in the region. This action was met with some international disapproval but was largely accepted over time.
3. East Jerusalem and Golan Heights by Israel (1967 and 1981): Following the Six-Day War, Israel annexed East Jerusalem and later the Golan Heights. These annexations have not been recognized by the majority of the international community, which considers them occupied territories.
4. Northern Cyprus by Turkey (1983): Following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, Turkey declared the northern part of the island as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Turkey.
5. Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia (2008): After the war with Georgia, Russia recognized the independence of these regions, effectively annexing them, although this is not widely recognized internationally.
6. Crimea by Russia (2014): Russia's annexation of Crimea followed a controversial referendum and has been condemned by the international community as a violation of international law.
For example, in 2014 Ukraine didn't really offer any resistance to the invasion of Crimea (partially bc it was under intense pressure from the West not to resist, partially because its army at the time wasn't reliable ), which probably went a long way to make the subsequent annexation palatable to the international community. Things looked totally different in 2022, when Ukraine made it clear it's going to resist, and Putin invaded anyway.
Vance cares about himself and only himself. China is the enemy only because it's useful to say it's an enemy (for now). Just like Trump was his enemy a few years ago :)
No point persuading people like that. Either you buy them or they ignore you.
I think that from the problem of who will help America, there is an even more important thing -- the sense that America has shown by fearing to side with allies and avoiding dangers (and costs). American isolationists may imagine that this is not a sign of weakness, but what Xi and Putin think matters. And in their propaganda, America is a sick, waning giant whose weakness they look forward to. Such withdrawal from confrontation greatly emboldens the bad guys like Xi and Putin.
The problem now is that not only do Vance and Trump clearly show they do not care about Ukraine, Biden cares about it less and less. The difference between Trump and Biden (in 2024, not in 2022) is that the first would abandon Ukraine abruptly, and the latter would dial down support slowly, pushing it towards a highly unfavourable settlement. Hopefully Harris is different.
China is his "enemy" only because he wants to get votes of all those unemployed or underemployed who believe that it's all because of chinese who got their jobs. Which is of course partially true, but only partially. People like Vance don't have any own opinions, he will do whatever needed to get to power, it's absolute hipocryte. I don't know what is worse. Trump who seems to believe in many of those conspiracy nonsenses or a guy like Vance who doesn't give a fuck about anything.
Not only trying, it's the only "actor" who really is able to compete if he wants. Huawei panic across the western world didn't come out of nowhere. Followed by Tiktok panic in US.
As an example of why the US needs allies, one should read about the recent prisoner exchange deal cut by Biden with Putin. To seal it and free US citizens, Biden had to convince / arm-twist Slovenia into expressly pardoning Russian spies it convicted and sent to prison. Biden pulled it off because Slovenia wanted to trade favours with an important ally and security provider. A US without allies wouldn't be able to count on such favours.
It would be very interesting to get your inside story of how GRU penetrated leftists through useful idiots such as Bart Staszewski and anti-PiS journalists. I guess you have some inside knowledge.
Not really - I'm more of an outsider, even among the anti-PiS journalists. It looks like similar stories from other countries - the spy was running an "open house" along with his Polish fiancee, who now threatens to sue anyone mentioning her name. There is a very interesting story in Polish here:
I think it is worth noting how much PiS in Poland used the Russian threat to try to silence their left-wing critics. Esp when it was about the abuses on the Eastern border.
"Russian annexation of Crimea and other parts of Ukraine is the first open violation of the UN Charter in decades."
Nope, even when I fully agree with author, which I, in general, do.
1. Tibet by China (1950): The People's Liberation Army invaded Tibet, and by 1951, the region was effectively annexed by China, which asserted its sovereignty over Tibet despite international criticism.
2. Goa by India (1961): India annexed Portuguese Goa after a military operation, leading to the end of Portuguese colonial rule in the region. This action was met with some international disapproval but was largely accepted over time.
3. East Jerusalem and Golan Heights by Israel (1967 and 1981): Following the Six-Day War, Israel annexed East Jerusalem and later the Golan Heights. These annexations have not been recognized by the majority of the international community, which considers them occupied territories.
4. Northern Cyprus by Turkey (1983): Following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, Turkey declared the northern part of the island as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Turkey.
5. Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia (2008): After the war with Georgia, Russia recognized the independence of these regions, effectively annexing them, although this is not widely recognized internationally.
6. Crimea by Russia (2014): Russia's annexation of Crimea followed a controversial referendum and has been condemned by the international community as a violation of international law.
In most cases, there are examples of "creative accounting" I mentioned. You can always put more details and write a longer note, but it never ends.
For example, in 2014 Ukraine didn't really offer any resistance to the invasion of Crimea (partially bc it was under intense pressure from the West not to resist, partially because its army at the time wasn't reliable ), which probably went a long way to make the subsequent annexation palatable to the international community. Things looked totally different in 2022, when Ukraine made it clear it's going to resist, and Putin invaded anyway.
Vance cares about himself and only himself. China is the enemy only because it's useful to say it's an enemy (for now). Just like Trump was his enemy a few years ago :)
No point persuading people like that. Either you buy them or they ignore you.
Yeah, he's a pure grifter without any convictions. The moral level of slime mould.
I think that from the problem of who will help America, there is an even more important thing -- the sense that America has shown by fearing to side with allies and avoiding dangers (and costs). American isolationists may imagine that this is not a sign of weakness, but what Xi and Putin think matters. And in their propaganda, America is a sick, waning giant whose weakness they look forward to. Such withdrawal from confrontation greatly emboldens the bad guys like Xi and Putin.
The problem now is that not only do Vance and Trump clearly show they do not care about Ukraine, Biden cares about it less and less. The difference between Trump and Biden (in 2024, not in 2022) is that the first would abandon Ukraine abruptly, and the latter would dial down support slowly, pushing it towards a highly unfavourable settlement. Hopefully Harris is different.
China is his "enemy" only because he wants to get votes of all those unemployed or underemployed who believe that it's all because of chinese who got their jobs. Which is of course partially true, but only partially. People like Vance don't have any own opinions, he will do whatever needed to get to power, it's absolute hipocryte. I don't know what is worse. Trump who seems to believe in many of those conspiracy nonsenses or a guy like Vance who doesn't give a fuck about anything.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Vance's sponsors are afraid of China. China is trying to compete in IT.
Not only trying, it's the only "actor" who really is able to compete if he wants. Huawei panic across the western world didn't come out of nowhere. Followed by Tiktok panic in US.
China isn't a US enemy, it's a US rival. These are similar, but different things.
As an example of why the US needs allies, one should read about the recent prisoner exchange deal cut by Biden with Putin. To seal it and free US citizens, Biden had to convince / arm-twist Slovenia into expressly pardoning Russian spies it convicted and sent to prison. Biden pulled it off because Slovenia wanted to trade favours with an important ally and security provider. A US without allies wouldn't be able to count on such favours.
It would be very interesting to get your inside story of how GRU penetrated leftists through useful idiots such as Bart Staszewski and anti-PiS journalists. I guess you have some inside knowledge.
Not really - I'm more of an outsider, even among the anti-PiS journalists. It looks like similar stories from other countries - the spy was running an "open house" along with his Polish fiancee, who now threatens to sue anyone mentioning her name. There is a very interesting story in Polish here:
https://frontstory.pl/szpieg-gru-pablo-gonzalez-pawel-rubcow-partnerka-zarzuty-rosja/
What do you mean with Bart Staszewski? He did good job with bringing attention to LGBT-free zones.
Of course he did, but there are online outlets better suited for this kind of discussion.
I think it is worth noting how much PiS in Poland used the Russian threat to try to silence their left-wing critics. Esp when it was about the abuses on the Eastern border.