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PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   26558 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 17, 2025

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There are a lot of people in the Trump campaign who followed what John Mearsheimer was saying about the Ukraine war, invited him to speeches, etc. Seems to me Trump is just saying what they are saying.

For reference, https://mearsheimer.substack.com/p/who-caused-the-ukraine-war

From a CW perspective its also fascinating that a speech Mearsheimer had given years prior went super viral after the Russian invasion. The content is pretty dry, and nobody seemed to consider whether Mearsheimer was just flat wrong. I don't think he was, but it was a surprising chain of events.

The video did induce me to read a popular 2018 book by one of Mearsheimer's contemporaries "The Hell of Good Intentions". There was a lot I agreed with in both Mearsheimer's talk and the book, and some that I didn't. AFAIKT the "not one inch east" talking point is bullshit (is was a non binding quip from a powerless US functionary made to the USSR only in reference to German reunification, with the understanding that the Warsaw Pact there to stay). And while I think modern US influence in the region can fairly be questioned, it never came close to justifying a full invasion. However, realists would argue that states cannot know the intentions of other states, and so often over-react.

However, realists would argue that states cannot know the intentions of other states, and so often over-react.

True. Unfortunately the United States pillaging the Russian economy, rigging their elections, funding separatist movements, loudly and publicly stating through various think tanks that they intended to cause the collapse of the country, and harboring child-murdering Chechen terrorists all combined to give the misplaced appearance of ill-will.

Yeah, for me I gravitated towards his explanation because it seemed like a reasonable explanation of the events among all of the hysteria at the time (and now too), and I'm sure a lot of other people did the same. Also, Keith Kellogg, who seems to be coordinating the Ukraine peace talks, keeps repeating that he is from the realist school. Mearsheimer says the same thing too, so my sense is a lot of people around Kellogg has similar thinking as well.

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