Why Republicans are souring on Ukraine

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3 minutes ago, sirineou said:

For many years there have been unsuccessful attempts towards the de-dollarization  of world trade  The freezing of Russian assets by the Americans , and the fear by others that the same could happen to them if they did not play ball with the US , provided the catalyst for the creation BRICS.

 

"Western sanctions on Russia could push the BRICS alliance closer "

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/11/western-sanctions-on-russia-could-push-the-brics-alliance-closer-appec.html

"Could push?" What does the even mean? The article itself closes with noting that any plan for a common currency is a long way off. And considering that China doesn't let its currency float freely, it's a very long way off.

Is this all you've got?

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9 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

In other words, no they were not conquered. Plus they are all virtual border regions of Russia, so hardly projection of power.  I don't see the big threat at all.  Nothing that Europe cannot or should not handle if they had the gumption.  

More nonsense from you. Russian troops or proxies are occupying the land of their neighbors. Their governments certainly feel lthreatened by Russia. Russia troops helped to perpetuate the subjugation of Byelorus with the stated goal of making it part of Russia. Ya think Finland, after years of staying out of NATO, joined on a whim?

[Hanaguma]

Like I said, European nations can easily take care of each other. If Finland wants protection, they could form an alliance with Germany or France or the UK. All those countries have economies that dwarf Russia.  

 

NATO served its purpose and needs to be put out to pasture.  A Europe based organization is by far a better fit for the region. 

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Just now, Hanaguma said:

Like I said, European nations can easily take care of each other. If Finland wants protection, they could form an alliance with Germany or France or the UK. All those countries have economies that dwarf Russia.  

 

NATO served its purpose and needs to be put out to pasture.  A Europe based organization is by far a better fit for the region. 

You keep on repeating that and ignore evidence to the contrary. The best evidence for the continuance of NATO is that it has worked quite well in crippling Russia's aggressiveness.

[sirineou]

36 minutes ago, placeholder said:

"Could push?" What does the even mean? The article itself closes with noting that any plan for a common currency is a long way off. And considering that China doesn't let its currency float freely, it's a very long way off.

Is this all you've got?

Regrades.

Does my post answers your question m which if I remember correctly  was " Exactly how?"

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8 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Regrades.

Does my post answers your question m which if I remember correctly  was " Exactly how?"

I asked how is BRICS tied to Ukraine. Your answer was it could be. There's a big difference between the indicative mood and the conditional mood.

[sirineou]

3 hours ago, placeholder said:

I asked how is BRICS tied to Ukraine. Your answer was it could be. There's a big difference between the indicative mood and the conditional mood.

No my answer was not "could be" 

I respectfully ask that you go back and read it again. 

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22 minutes ago, sirineou said:

No my answer was not "could be" 

I respectfully ask that you go back and read it again. 

For your answer you linked to an article that very clearly stated "could be".

[RayC]

13 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

Then Europe can defend itself. The EU has more than enough economic power to provide a robust continental defence without relying on Uncle Sam. As you said, the threat that NATO was formed to protect against, the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, are gone. And so is NATO's raison d'etre. 

 

The real enemy to fear now is China, not Russia and its Canada-level GDP.

 

You over-simplify things again. If the US were to leave NATO tomorrow then Europe would be very vulnerable as, currently, it doesn't have the capability to defend itself: France and the UK are the only European nations with significant defence forces and both are dwarfed by Russia.

 

Europe could, and imo should, be more self-sufficient in terms of its' own defence. However, matters are complicated by a number of factors. Firstly, even allowing for Putin's imperialist intentions, Russia is not seen as a direct threat by many Southern European states hence, secondly, their ongoing reluctant to commit anything like 2% of GDP on defence spending (as demanded by NATO). Thirdly, there is the historical context: Until very recently, no European country would be happy to see a rearmed Germany. Likewise, there are some countries e.g. Spain, Portugal, Greece where a military dictatorship was a thing of the recent past, hence the caution in increasing the military's power. Fourthly, until recently, US administrations of both colours were against the idea of a European army, as it was believed that it would undermine NATO (and presumably US influence in Europe). There are probably a plethora of other reasons.

 

The above might be seen as an excuse for European states to do nothing but he bottom line is even if a plan to form a European army was agreed tomorrow, imo it would probably take the best part of a decade before it could be deployed. NATO (including the US) is still needed to ensure Western Europe's security.

[sirineou]

11 hours ago, placeholder said:

For your answer you linked to an article that very clearly stated "could be".

I am very disappointed in you!

No I did not!

You asked why I made a statement,

I succinctly explained why, also I posted a headline and a link to e reputable source,  to indicate that I was not the only one that thought so. 

My explanation stand with or without the article 

 

If you disagree with my explanation, please feel free to say why. 

[Tug]

15 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

Like I said, European nations can easily take care of each other. If Finland wants protection, they could form an alliance with Germany or France or the UK. All those countries have economies that dwarf Russia.  

 

NATO served its purpose and needs to be put out to pasture.  A Europe based organization is by far a better fit for the region. 

Dear lord in light of what Putin has done?you can’t be serious!

[Hanaguma]

5 hours ago, Tug said:

Dear lord in light of what Putin has done?you can’t be serious!

As I said before, Putin runs a country with a tiny economy and is bankrupting it. Europe could easily put him in check if they wanted to. But they don't. The Europeans have gotten lazy, and gotten used to having their big brother across the Atlantic do all the heavy lifting. Both in Europe and around the world. They have underspent on defence, and then balked when called out about it.  Well, now they can pay the price.  Time to take the bull by the t1ts and stir themselves into some semblance of strength. 

 

For North America, China is by far the greater threat, and Asia the more important area of interest.  Russia has almost zero ability to project power very far beyond their land borders- certainly not like China can. 

[Tug]

8 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

As I said before, Putin runs a country with a tiny economy and is bankrupting it. Europe could easily put him in check if they wanted to. But they don't. The Europeans have gotten lazy, and gotten used to having their big brother across the Atlantic do all the heavy lifting. Both in Europe and around the world. They have underspent on defence, and then balked when called out about it.  Well, now they can pay the price.  Time to take the bull by the t1ts and stir themselves into some semblance of strength. 

 

For North America, China is by far the greater threat, and Asia the more important area of interest.  Russia has almost zero ability to project power very far beyond their land borders- certainly not like China can. 

You are mistaken as I think you know rite now Mr Putin is holding the bread basket of Europe hostage causing world wide hunger he’s influencing great calamity in the Middle East (Syria) he’s robbing many African nations of their resources via Wagner holding vast energy resources.you are much much more knowledgeable than to be pushing such nonsense,so I naturally think of what’s the motive……..?