Emperor Xi Jinping paid a royal visit to Pu Tin, regional governor of the northern Chinese province of Ruxia.
That's what it looked like, because that is what is happening. Xi was beaming and Putin looked the servant that he is. This was the greatest humiliation Russia has ever seen.
This isn't an alliance, it's boss and lackey. Xi isn't talking about fighting NATO or the US. He'll take Russia first. Putin is trying to buy extra hours in power by selling Russia to China.
Putin's insane war on Ukraine is worsening the Russian demographic crisis, depopulating the country. China isn't doing well and needs space, resources, and victories. Putin's nationalist supporters see what's happening.
China has issued maps that list swaths of Russian border territory with Chinese names and configurations. Putin would give that up to do what, take Bakhmut temporarily? Why not? He doesn't care about Russia or Russians at all.
This will be the choice Russia faces when defeated and ejected from Ukraine. To crawl back to Europe with concessions, accountability, and reparations or to become a gas station province of the Chinese dictatorship.
The US should not make the same mistakes with Xi that it made with Putin. Xi and his gang are self-interested and couldn't care less about Putin or this supposed friendship. They respect strength and will advance if faced by weakness in Ukraine and elsewhere.
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Putin's speech in 2005 was the basis of my formulation that while routinely dictators lie about everything they have done, they are often forthright about what they want to do. A mistake people & free world leaders often make is they prefer not to believe them. My article:
"In Putin’s eyes–and we must now see it through his eyes, because we have allowed him to turn his vision into reality–we are currently fighting World War IV: the West against global authoritarianism. World War III was the Cold War, and Putin has not accepted that the USSR lost."
Putin laid out his geopolitical vision for expansion, adding the infamous line about the fall of the USSR being the worst catastrophe of the 20th century. He wallowed in the usual WWII glorification, omitting Stalin's collaboration with Hitler and subjugation of E Europe.
Putin stopped reading after the first sentence. Russia won’t stop its unprovoked war on Ukraine without the pain of much higher military, economic, and political costs.
Vague mentions of sanctions aren’t going to make an impression. Instead, a strong message supporting US ally Ukraine and promising more made in USA weapons and aid until Russia leaves would have a much greater impact on Putin feeling pressure to negotiate. Strength, not pleading.
(And "Russia" helped the US defeat the Nazis only after Stalin helped Hitler start the war, as his ally, and that millions of Ukrainians were murdered by the Nazis & fighting for the Soviet army. And 60m is total WWII casualties, but we don’t look to Trump for history lessons.)
My response in @welt to Musk's promotion of AfD in Germany and his broader support for illiberal parties and causes. Bashing the far-left is well and good, but promoting far-right extremism is not, especially via misinformation. welt.de/debatte/kommen…
The old liberal world order is dead, the challenge before us is what should replace it. Is it the autocratic vision of might makes right of Xi and Putin? Or can the free world protect its people and interests while maintaining the rights and freedoms that make life worth living?
Excesses of ideology & failures of competence by the far-left have often led to far-right backlash claiming a return to traditional values and making the trains run on time. But a regressive, fascist agenda is moral bankruptcy. And we know where those trains end up going.
"Russia felt threatened by NATO!" is nothing more than a Kremlin loyalty test for Western billionaires, academics, and politicians at this point. As with most old, refuted propaganda it stays alive due to the ignorant and the propagandists who exploit them.
It's like when a public figure talks about an amazing story and it turns out to be The Protocols of the Elders of Zion or Mein Kampf. The bigger question is where they got it, not just why they believe it. When Trumpists regurgitate the NATO myth, it came from somewhere.
As with the "Separatists!", "Nazis in Ukraine!" and "Ukraine is corrupt!" BS that originates and perpetuates in Russian channels and is spun out into the world of the gullible and those who wish to attack Ukraine for their own agendas.
I only wish the American security establishment supported my views as much as these trolls always say they do so I could stop complaining about them! 🤡😂
At my age, I almost enjoy the nostalgia of outdated Kremlin talking points, back when anyone opposed to Russia (or any former Iron Curtain nation) being a dictatorship was called an agitator under the influence of the Americans. I spend years blasting Burns and I’m still CIA?!
My views have changed little because my values have not changed. I support the use of free world hard and soft power against the rise and threat of authoritarians and terrorists at home and abroad. I have harshly criticized Dem & GOP admins for their failure to do this.
My congratulations to @DGukesh on his victory today. He has summitted the highest peak of all: making his mother happy!
Gukesh impressively surmounted every obstacle and opponent in his path, especially considering his age, and nothing more can be asked. My thoughts on the historical world championship lineage with Magnus outside are known, but that is not the story today.
The level of play was quite high, at least equal to the previous match. Ding showed great resistance. As for the blunders, which world championship, or world champion, was without them? I had my share, and recall the double blunder in Carlsen-Anand 2014, g6. Matches take a toll.