Thread by @NewAtlantisSun

My meta level read of the propaganda situation is that Russia is trying to conceal the actual cost from its people for as long as possible, and Ukraine is wall-spaghetti-ing memes designed entirely for a western audience who they wish to provide them with unlimited support.

I'm concerned that the "Ukrainian" propaganda arm appears to be increasingly dominated by western spooks with an interest in escalation, unlimited access to western media time, and apparently wide bipartisan support in the US public.

In that context I interpret Russian statements about their "strategic forces" being put on high alert (characterized by BBC etc as delusional unprovoked threats) as being directed at western elite elements contemplating "no fly zones" or increasingly direct intervention.

Essentially I read Russia as reiterating "what part of NATO Ukraine is an *existential* threat do you not understand".

This is unfortunate because Americans in general have no actual idea what an "existential threat" is or how it is dealt with, after decades of dilution by their state media. "Oh, you mean like racism and climate change?"

For Americans, WWII was a Spielbergian happy warm fuzzy that formalized their state's entire raison d'etre as spreading Democracy and Freedom and fighting Racism. That is how Americans view "existential threat" - something to be triumphed over in Act III.

In Russian terms, an "existential threat" is something you summon a monster to do monstrous things in order to forestall. You put Stalin in charge, and have 4M dead Ukrainians, amongst other things, because it's the only way you develop fast enough to kill Hitler.

When Putin calls the US and NATO an "evil empire", says that their expansion into Ukraine is an existential threat, says Ukraine must be "denazified", and says he has plenty of nukes with which to do it in extremis, he is telling a *consistent* story.

You might not like it, agree with his characterization of the Ukrainian regime, etc etc, but you need to be able to explain why you believe he is lying about very specific and explanatory motivations before you risk actual global conflict.