By popular request, I'm going to start a thread to break down the NATO Charter. The charter is composed of just 14 articles and every day, I'll post a new TL;DR on a new article. #NATOcharter
ARTICLE 1
TL;DR = NATO members will act in accordance with the UN Charter to keep the peace and encourage security in the North Atlantic region. #NATOcharter
ARTICLE 2
TL;DR = members to strengthen free institutions and eliminate/ reduce conflict in their economic policies. (Also known as the 'Canadian Clause' after π¨π¦ Prime Minister Lester Pearson) #NATOcharter
ARTICLE 3
TL;DR = members continue to invest in and develop their defenses (this is the basis of the 2% defense budget goal) #NATOcharter
β’ β’ β’
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Barack Obama (2014) said: "russia doesnβt make anything. Immigrants arenβt rushing to moscow in search of opportunity. The life expectancy of the russian male is around 60 years old. The population is shrinking." (interview in The Economist). Thread on why this matters / 1
Little discussed aspect of this war - russian demographics are going to be negatively impacted for decades because of this debacle /2
Prior to this war, demographics for russia were already looking pretty gloomy. The population is projected to shrink to 121 million by 2050, down a staggering 27 million (18.2%) from its 1995 high of 141 million people. (Source: UN report) /3
Profound 1987 article by former Chancellor of West Germany. A ruthless assessment of russia's political and imperial mindset. He gave 6 reasons why russia can never get along with the rest of the world. Might as well have been written today. Here's the TL;DR...
1. russian messianic mindset
russia has an inherently messianic view of its own role in the world. russia believes it is the center of Christianity and its true standard-bearer ever since the collapse of the Byzantine Empire (continued)
This messianic thinking manifests itself in a variety of ways, such as seeing themselves as the leaders of pan-Slavism and, in the 20th century, as leaders of the global world communist movement. Various movements but all with the same core view of themselves as better.
Thread on how russia has exploited democracy and pushed its expansionist agenda for the past 2 decades with the help of many collaborators, allies and partisans. My thoughts on some of the different categories of people it uses to advance its imperial growth:
1. OVERT ALLIES
example = Xi Jinping, who recently promised "unending friendship" and in return got russia to delay its invasion until after the Chinese Winter/Propaganda Olympics.
quick sidenote - same thing happened in 2008 when russia invaded Georgia. China asked them to wait until the day after the Beijing Summer/Propaganda Olympics. (worth a separate thread)
Since russia invaded Ukraine, @NATO activated its response plan and increased its ready active forces on the eastern flank 8-fold. Check out the stats:
From 5,000 combat troops in February to 40,000 in April