Actually, I have to disagree with his opinions on just about every other foreign policy issue. His stances tend to be anti-US. I do not think similar stances on Russia come from the same place. His stance comes from his perception of the US as some evil imperialist power.
My stance comes from reading George F. Kennan and Henry Kissinger about how the Ruskies think. Musberger thinks the US has a nefarious plan. I agree with you Deez that we do not. The expansion of NATO and the EU is seen as "natural progress" to the west. However, that is just not how Russians see it and I think we are severely misplaying our Russian foreign policy. Part of the problem is we are perceiving 21st century Russians as 20th century Soviets and Putin as Hitler. Russians were very pro West until we bombed Belgrade. I do not believe they ultimately want an empire or war anymore. Putin is a bad person and a gangster, but I think he is more concerned with personal wealth than world domination. He is doing what he was elected to do and "stand up to the west." Hypocritically supporting an undemocratic coup in the Ukraine puts us on the path of creating an aggressive Russia run by a despot that we fear. Our support for the overthrow of the Ukrainian government can only be perceived by Russia as the west valuing a pro EU, anti Russia Ukraine more than a democratic Ukraine.
This is where you are wrong. Russia has historically been invaded over and over (by more than just Napoleon or Hitler). The Russians do fear invasion and want a buffer zone around themselves.
Do you and I understand the west has no plans to invade Russia? Yes. Do the Russians understand that? No. They just see NATO moving east on them. This is why they elected Putin in the first place. He promised to stand up to the west.
The only way to "fix" Russia's psychological deficiencies is to give them breathing space and their much sought after buffer zones. See the Kissinger article. Hopefully over time, new generations will lose their "invasion phobia" as peace reigns.
The wants of the Ukraine do not trump the need to get Russia and its vast nuclear arsenal on board with the west. The goal should be to make Russia an ally and avoid a cold war situation from ever happening again. To do that, the expansion of NATO and the EU east needs to chill. There is no great need to expand east and we need to stop before we turn Russia into an aggressor rather than a friend. Yes, Russia's might makes ignoring the Ukraine's wants right, just the like the US's might makes a lot of things we do right.
I think we both agree we would like to see the US, Europe and Russia united against real threats such as radical islam or north korea and not busy creating threats against one another with typical European power plays/politics.
Last edited: Jul 11, 2017