Liberal Ideological EXTREMISM Is Driving Collective West Into Global Suicide | Prof. Michael Rossi
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 มิ.ย. 2024
- We might already be in WWIII, we just haven't realised it (and named it as such) yet. The collective madness with which the Western elites are pursuing their messianic believe that only their version of a good society is worth living in the first place is driving the Europeans into collective suicide. This has nothing to do anymore with "sleepwalking" into the next mass-killing. We are witnessing the march of the willing straight into the Armageddon they desire.
To discuss this most depressing topic, I've got with me today Dr. Michael Rossi, a lecturer at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he teaches political science and international relations, focusing especially on the connection between culture and politics.
@MichaelRossiPoliSci is also the host of a TH-cam channel on which he keeps publishing very valuable primary sources in the form of uncommented speeches and press releases from the Russian state, making those video documents available to many more people in the english language. He also does videos with his own political analysis and I saw that he also started interviewing guests, like the ever-brilliant Professor Nicolai Petro. His channel and work is really something to look out for as he helps us understand current affairs with Russia much better.
Liberal democracy. First step to rule by Banker's, Wall Street, Black Rock, Vanguard and Oligarchs.
BlackRock, Vanguard and StateSreet are the satanic 👿Western Triad.
The first thing they install is a central bank. Then feminism and wokeness to confuse and weaken the people. Then the voting computers to cheat.
Corporate Earth
Sometimes it works. I think most people prefer South Korea over North Korea.
@@edmundleung2098stupid comparison. I would prefer eating garage to dog shit, but that doesn’t mean the garbage is good. South Korea is a dystopian corporate nightmare.
I found this very interesting , I’m 62 and I lost faith in “democracy” decades ago, it’s just a form of fascism and getting worse as the years go by.
At least it appears to me that Russia, China, Iran etc are led by a political class that has the best interests of the country and people who they lead as their core objective.
I definitely don’t see that in the leadership of any western so called democracies, look at the E.U’s response to the Nordstream sabotage…unbelievable.
Australian is in Asia and our largest trading partner is China but naturally our politicians are owned by oligarchs that are in league with the same class of oligarchs that run the U.S, U.K and E.U so our politicians do what is in the best interests of the U.S hegemony not Australia 🤷♂️.
from Australia 🇦🇺
I came to the same conclusion as you. In the western democracies, specially the US where I live, the government represents special interests. Just look at the money politicians need to get elected and the level of income inequality, it is clear.
@@ideally6849The same holds true for Canada and the rest of the collective West. We live in oligarchies masquerading as democracies.
The US is a representative republic representing the capitalist owner class who owns the politicians.
Very well, said, Darrell! Greetings from UK
Democracy is a tool to achieve communism
Thank you very much for having me on. It was a pleasure speaking with you!
Having me. Not having me on.
He does really have a great platform. So many interesting and highly informative people on here, who deliver essential background info
Can you comment on Scott Ritter's argument that after recognizing the independence of Lugansk and Donetsk and a mutual security treaty article 51 came into force. Specifically collective self defence, and more precisely preemptive self defense.
@@bettyboop-xg6jo 😂😂😂😂
Mr. professor, are you aware of Dovid Katz and his critique on the Double Holocaust revisionism? He wrote a couple of pieces on Tim Snyder's book also. To me seems quite a relevant contribution to the questions of these styles that we see in the current conflict.
The contemptible hubris of political and cultural imperialism is a cornerstone of Western ideology.
Great and succinct analysis!
Exactly, that's why on min 30 I'm not sure if I'll continue
You mean U.S zio ideology.
Aaah yes.. western exceptionalism. Aka arrogance
Russia was the aggressor and had invaded Ukraine? Why is it so difficut to understand that in 2014 the Russian speaking regions had legitimately broken away from Ukraine (ruled by an illegal regime), and that in 2022 Donbass faced a huge Ukrainian force massed to retake the territory, and that the Donbass states then requested Russia for help?
As @MichaelRossi said, IR is about narrative, and by repeating "unprovoked" incessantly, the US (and it's poodles) are building narrative, even if blatant propaganda.
As @MichaelRossi stated, IR is all about narrative building, and which is what the US (and it's poodles) are doing to brainwash their own population and making sure they never connect the (inconvenient) causes to the occurrence we face today.
Thank you. I have been saying the same and get accused of being pro-Russian or pro-war, if not having my argument completely ignored or dismissed on its face. The people of Donbass plus Zaporizhye & Kherson have a right to self determination under Article 5 of UN Charter, as Russia has pointed out. But this gets glossed over as Russian protesting too much & is dismissed as a rational and valid reason out of hand. I don't like war, but Russia has a right to security lust as the ethnic Russian population in the east of Ukraine have a right to not live under a illegal regime that is actively trying to destroy its culture and language. These are quite reasonable to me.
Russia has also been threatened by NATO constantly and it is an open secret that the US wants to dominate Russia against the interests of the Russian people.
The Russian federation rightly perceived a incoming threat and then under duress of Ukrainian government war on the Russian speaking people took action to protect the people who couldn't and itself.
its very simple if you understand concept of reference frame or were familiar how 'rules based order' frame works.
from the western frame coup was legal expression of democratic will and subsequent actions were just suppressing terrorist authoritarian rebels, or something along those lines. everything else is irrelevant hate facts not worthy acknowledgment, you filthy putinist 🤣
nb. the guy just spent an hour explaining (fairly well, might i add) where this mindset comes from and how it is self reinforcing
The war in Ukraine obviously could have been avoided. But this obvious conclusion falls apart if one looks at the West as being governmed by a financial oligarchy to which Russia does not want to submit to.
Zbig already wrote about US controlling Eurasia to prevent a global challenger to global "American Primacy". The Grand Chessboard.
Exactly! 100% correct.
@@mark_2Zbig wasn't a Prophet, just one of political gamblers. Life is much more interesting than chess-game.
Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, John Kirby, Matt Miller, and Bibi Netanyahu: Who on Earth want to live in their world?
Not me!
You forgot to mention the queen of evil - Victoria Nuland 😉🙃
Everything is fine in the Blinken world, yet...
@@Ilaab1995 funny how almost all of them are jews.
Their handful of buddies ... limited space in a nuclear wasteland.
Hey! An academic who wants to educate or inform the public! More power to him!
Pretty sure this person is paid by russians or something. Check his older content
agreed!
I also commented on this but the lovely people with youtube's premission removed my comment. Such a fair and wonderful world
@@turbanheadlessUmm.. one needs to choose one's words ...
@@soniavadnjal7553 to make sure it agrees with the agenda of propagandist. Gotcha commie
Literally never heard from someone who was some time in serbia saying something bad about my home country. That makes me so happy
Madam Albright ...
Pascal, wow. I have been immersed in Prof. Mearsheimer for over a year now and more recently Judge Napolitano. This constructivist approach gives me another "blind man's perspective" on the proverbial elephant. I will definitely check out Prof. Rossi's channel Mega kudos for this incredible episode, from the belly of the American media wasteland.
Liberalism is not an IR theory. The only IR theory that exists, which is what makes Mearshiemer so prescient, is realism. What liberalism is is an "IR-module" that you plug-in, to convince yourself (and naïve others), that you are acting for the benefit of others, while pursuing an agenda of self-interest. In other words, Liberalism is a “mask”. This accounts for the western hypocrisy as the mask can’t be worn at all times without jeopardizing Western interests. The West has honed in on democracy because it is both the most desirable and most corruptible form of government. Aristotle and Plato both pointed out that democracies eventually, given time, devolve into oligarchies. The West completely understands this devolution and the processes that lead to it and have developed the tools to speed it up: media manipulation, search algorithm manipulation, NGO interference and lobbying, color revolutions, etc. Democratic nations that are susceptible to these tools are called “liberal democracies” and those that are resistant are called “illiberal democracies”. The great tragedy of this age is that the West has so corrupted the democratic form of government that it could be completely discredited for generations to come.
Well put.
It's worse. The collective west is a fascist culture with a liberal mask. Dissidents end up in the ditch.
Somalia was not about starving people. We had Sally Struthers to cover that. Somalia was about trying ro enforce dubious oil contracts. They just managed to never say the quiet part out loud.
Thanks.. like a blind men.watching silence movie.....picture that ... that how somali ppl is like rest the of world
Brilliant interview! Thank you Pascal and thank you mr Rossi!
Just want to say that I been following Rossi for years and corresponded with him on patreon. Great guy, very knowledgeable. Constructivism is useful too.
One of your best guests ever. Able to understand all perspectives. Bigthanks to you both🌱 I subscribed to his channel after 2 minutes of scrolling through his videos now.
Kosovo didn't give Russia a "green light" - Russia is reacting to an unrestrained US led militarsm and the riding roughshod over international law. The very thing Putin highlighted in his 2007 Munich conference speech.
Yes but Kosovo broke the back.
This is about capitalist imperialism, not about " liberal ideas". These are just a flimsy pretext. The economy remains the base of class relations and geopolitics.
"The ideal of a democracy is universal equality. The ideal of a constitutional Republic is individual liberty.
"Subversion of Language
"In this century, great strides have been made toward the goal of subverting our Republic and
transforming it into a democracy. One tactic of the subverters is subversion of language. By
calling the United States a democracy until people thoughtlessly accept and use the term, totalitarians have obscured the real meaning of our principles of government." -- Dan Smoot
Source: Full text of "Dan Smoot Report, 1963-66" on Internet Archive.
Democracy doesn't entail universal equality. Only universal suffrage, which is impossible without individual liberty.
There is no democracy in the West. Don’t let yourself get caught in the “lesser of two evils” extortion.
The republican system is a privilege (private law) and privation regime that works on behalf of private property. It is a continuation of historical monarchal rule by plutocratic means. The public has no say in how its money is spent, in whether or not to wage war, whether or not to bail out criminal enterprises, or whether or not to turn militarized police forces on citizens peacefully protesting government policies. The public is kept in line with the most valuable tool of a republic-a monopoly on violence.
The mask is off now. There is no longer a disguise for what this actually is. The American public has been trained by the republican system to be servile and deluded about their actual power and function.
The function of voting in a republic is to rubber-stamp the whole preverse process. The most democratic thing that people can do together is stay home on election day. Call the whole system into question. Make it so obvious that they can’t lie about it. Short of that, partisan political exhortations are worse than a waste of time.
Capitalism was born in the former Roman colonies of western Europe along with the modern incarnations of the Roman Republic, and the republican paradigm is the source of the failures of all modern governments, including the socialist varieties.
Hitler’s Nazis and Stalin’s “communists,” despite the ideological differences between their facades, were mirror-image products of republican world-building. Hitler and Stalin were republicans before they were anything else. Mussolini is seen as Roman fascism’s revivalist, but in actuality, the US government is a faithful rendition of the Roman Republic, festooned with dueling fasces and other Roman paraphernalia.
Look at photos of the House of Representatives and notice the Roman mace and twin fasces. In case you don’t know, a mace is a weapon for bludgeoning people to death, and it’s sometimes used ceremonially as a symbol of authority. Notice that the axe heads on the fasces are placed to face each other! The symbols in the House of Representatives signify a population divided into opposing camps and ruled over with the threat of capital punishment.
The incorrect assumption about the republican construct is that it is only an objective logical framework. In fact, it is a framework that institutionalizes elite rule, regardless of ideology or of the mechanisms for selecting representatives. The logic of a republic is game logic, designed to keep people investing in a game they can never win, while decisions in the real world are made by the house. Republicanism and the federalism required to enforce it are deliberate negations of democracy.
American “democracy” can be characterized as the people of Arizona being forced to compete against the people of New York in a Sisyphean “culture war” to force their respective “identities” on each other, while the substantive decision-making of the federal republic is done by a coterie of “elected” pragmatic opportunists openly sponsored by private wealth.
The U.S., a nation of more than 330 million people, is effectively ruled by 543 people in the federal government, and approximately the same number in the government of each state. That is approximately 27,700 deciders, or .000084 of the population. Controlling that minuscule fractional minority by any means is what republican politics is all about.
We are purported to be a sapient species, and a sapient body politic requires democratic initiatives and reforms with a goal to eventually transition to direct democracy. Direct democracy and the absence of hierarchies is the sapient future. Although it does make sense to learn from socialist critiques, it doesn’t make sense for us to first strive for a socialist republic, especially considering the historical baggage that socialism has acquired.
Direct democracy would be an easy sell to people across the current political spectrum, if it were taken seriously by intelligent people as an actual possibility. The problem is that it’s the most radical, empowering and likely to succeed option that is conceivable, and that makes the idea of a socialist republic palatable by comparison to private concerns.
Thank you.
Took me a long time but I've come to the same conclusion.
No votes, no legitimacy.
Thanks to you both for a fascinating discussion. ❤❤❤
Brilliant and informative, I've been looking forward to this conversation, and hope for more in the future.
thank you both.
Bravo Pascal for finding and inviting so many interesting people on your show. In fact, bravo to both of you for your work.
Phenomenal. Please have professor Rossi on again... and again...
Hello There - I found Prof. Rossi channel not long after the SMO began and I'm very grateful for the service. Every important speech from Putin and other members of Rus gov are translated and available with subtitles within a day or so. APPRECIATED very much!! I like to hear the Russian language and read along.
The voiceover on Pascals German videos is actually really good and listenable !!
Thanks x
The problem of the collective West, led by the USA, is the totally uncritical subordination of all states, who see the USA as a protective power and want to maintain it as such.
The USA, however, is solely concerned with maintaining its hegemonic position (which in reality it already lost). They know no friends, only servile subject states or enemies. The foreign policy establishment in Washington is the source of chronic wars and discord in the world.
The West, whose roots and values are founded in Christianity, will come back to itself, when the USA finally recognises that the unipolar moment is over, that it has used it to its own and the world's disadvantage and, furthermore, when its vassal states finally come to their senses and begin to keep a healthy distance from the USA.
Today, the West is dominated by censorship, the dictation of opinion, cancel culture, the persecution and marginalisation of dissenters, the distortion of events and lies- often by concealing elementary points.
But lies have short legs and anyone who begins to systematically spread untruths in order to achieve their goals will have those lies sooner or later fall at their feet.
I think the critical key they're missing is the importance of contextualizing IR in history. One cannot be an honest or effective commentator or 'expert' w/o the historical underpinnings. Those facts speak to both current intention, context, actions, and outcomes. So the politics MUST be contextualized in the history, otherwise we find ourselves analyzing everything as first impression or face value which is absurd and ultimately harmful and only serves the preservation of power--which is often oppressive power.
Seriously one of the best discussions I’ve heard in the past couple of years - encompassing competing IR theories and their practical application, historical context, the shaping of minds and narrative within the “civilized garden” ….and other juicy factors that add to a fuller picture of what is happening globally. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“The liberal bourgeoisie in general, and the liberal-bourgeois intelligentsia in particular, cannot but strive for liberty and legality, since without these the domination of the bourgeoisie is incomplete, is neither undivided nor guaranteed. But the bourgeoisie is more afraid of the movement of the masses than of reaction. Hence the striking, incredible weakness of the liberals in politics, their absolute impotence. Hence the endless series of equivocations, falsehoods, hypocrisies and cowardly evasions in the entire policy of the liberals, who have to play at democracy to win the support of the masses but at the same time are deeply anti-democratic, deeply hostile to the movement of the masses, to their initiative, their way of “storming heaven”, as Marx once described one of the mass movements in Europe in the last century.”
- V.I. Lenin, “Two Utopias”
^ This comment is why the Innertubez were invented.
@@TeshubBeg Pardon?
But doesn't the "bourgeoisie" come from the masses? Originally? They don't just suddenly materialise in the middle social space as a wealthy middle class. They achieve their position by hard work and talent. Abilities with which we are all endowed. It seems Lenyin had tunnel vision. Or was envious of the rich, the "haves".
@@soniavadnjal7553There are some that achieve their positions through their own virtues but most get it from families and upbringing, especially European "old money" aristocracy. The system has evolved, mimicked a bit, became less blatant than it used to be, but if you look carefully at people in power you'll find a lot of interesting family connections.
In the end Lenin has created something similar, money aristocracy got swapped for ideological party aristocracy. Then it all inevitably devolved into plutocracy. Similar to what's going on with Europe now. US remains olygarchy as it always was, but the quality of the elite decreased significantly, so they're struggling too.
There's no good answer, no universal system, certainly no ideal system, everything is dynamic and, I think, will always be
@@soniavadnjal7553
So when middle class is shrinking, it is a result of the loss of work ethic and talent?
The truth is some of the content here is superb, am getting addicted. President Putin said "we don't want the kind of democracy that there is was in Iraq"
'is was'
I’m not sure how you have a conversation for hour on the motivations of western liberalism and not mention economics even in passing. Strange to say the least.
Well said. Literally the potential for Russia to take on dollar denominated debt in the face of global 'de-dollarisation' (due to only having a 20% household debt to gdp ratio vs typically 80% for a US client-state) is the reason US and its vassals want to penetrate Russia.
Bravo! A much needed service to cut through the heavily biased legacy media and even social media.
A brilliant conversation, very much looking forward to many more.
Great discussion. Enjoyed it and learned much. Thanks
Man... You have just some of the best guests and interviews ever. Thank you for helping us make sense of all this world jazz and propaganda. Please keep going! 🙏
Hi, Dear Pascal and Rossi. Let me share with You a reference from R. Koselleck´s book “Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time”, where the German author analyses “The Historical-Political Semantics of Asymmetric Counterconcepts”, as means to construct the enemy. “A political or social agency is first constituted through concepts by means of which it circumscribes itself and hence excludes others and therefore, by means of which it defines itself”. In this sense, it allows to treat the other as an enemy, as shows the historic recorded use of ‘Hellenes and Barbarians’, ‘Christians and Heathens’, ‘Mensch and Unmensch’, ‘Ubermensch and Untermensch’ (passim).
This is great. I never felt our media was telling the whole truth. I want to hear the other side for myself. This is great….we must hear the other side for their viewpoint.
😂😂😂😂🎉😅😅😊😊 32:35 32:35 😅 32:35 😅😅
I think you should both be a bit more critical of your constantly reiterated term "invasion". if a very large group of your former citizens is being genocided in the neighboring country and you send over some troops, is it technically an "invasion of another country" or much rather instead an SMO?? on the one hand you exhort critical appraisal and then in crucial moments you collapse into the mainstream western cliches
VERY WELL NOTED!!!
Over 100,O00 Ukrainian troops had amassed on the western border of the Donbass ready for a blitzkrieg by the time Russia started the SMO!!!!!
(After 8 years of continuous slaughter by Ukraine! After the people had a referendum to legally break ties with Ukraine and join the Russian Federation... Etc, etc)
It discredits the narrative here ....
Excellent guest, thank you!
Superb conversation! Keep these coming! Highly appreciated!
Michael Rossi? Oh wow 😊well done, Pascal
How can you talk about liberal democracies without acknowledging that they're all oligarchies whose moneyed class decides their fireign policy in what they think is their own interest (as distinct from the interest of the people)?!
Do you mean " NEO LIBERAL". The oligarchs and alphabet groups is FASCISM 2.0.
Very informative. Thank you.
Is there any reason that Ukraines declaration in March 2021 to ‘de-occupy’ Crimea never gets mentioned even on your Chanel? I have only heard this from Jacques Baud, and I immediately looked it up in order to verify it. It checks out. And to me seems a very important point. If Russia supported the Republic of Ireland, armed the Irish army and if Ireland stated its intention to ‘de-occupy’ Northern Ireland, this would surely be seen as a declaration of war by the UK. Or am I missing some other context?
You are completely correct.
Thank you Pascal. Great interview
Nice to meet you, Dr. Rossi! Thank you for your extensive work!
Thank you
Rossi is amazing. Highly recommend going to his channel and watching the ten part master’s course on Russian Foreign Policy. Highly informative!
I love your comment about embracing absurdity, Pascal. You remind me of a poem by Wallace Stevens, an American poet and insurance company executive from Pennsylvania: "Connoisseur of Chaos."
An excellent interview. A very interesting guest. Thanks
Mr. Rossi put his poli-sci degree to good use. Very interesting discussion gents!
Absolute amazing video. Thank you!
Perhaps the idea of liberal democracy is a contradiction in terms. Alexis de Tocqueville In his Democracy in America argued that democracy is based on the idea of equality, while liberalism is based on the idea of individual Liberty. And those two ideas are not necessarily compatible.
Great discussion 👍🏻 Fantastic guest
Political science is a very fascinating field of studies.
One of the best presention about the precedent world foreign policy situation.
Cult of one vs. Recognizing seperatnes
Great discussion!
Excellent presentation.
I'd say the only thing missing was the financial aspect, including the West's and Ukraine's financial obligations/promises to their creditors. "Spreading democracy" is truly just a front for global profits, to ensure that a very, very elite few control all resources and power.
I'd say modern liberal democracy should be renamed to neo-Imperialism, as not only does it better distinguish it from the original definition, but it also more accurately describes what it actually is.
This makes 1000s of us 🙂
I think this conversation was full of contradictions, specially from your guest.
Definitely my second favorite Rossi after Valentino. It’s Groundhog Day in DC but unlike Bill Murray’s character, the Neoclowns want to stay in the time loop.
Great guest, good to see him here, been following him for a while. Particularly liked his series on central Asia stans
You need to discuss Keohane, Nye, Eikenberry--all the 'soft' neocons who pushed the ideas behind the disastrous US course in world affairs
The question about the mind-tech in how the Neocons can redefine Liberalism to their whims of the season.
How are they doing this, and why are people so fearful that they do not outright and immediately reject their lies and toxic nonsense?
This was a great discussion. Thank you.
At 27:37... two nerds getting excited...😂😂 i love it ! Great interview. Very informative.
Wonderful discussion!
Having these connections explained in this way is truly enriching.
Thank you Professor Rossi, thank you Professor Lottaz.
I wished the politician elite would listen to your channel. But they can’t because the mirror would be unbearable for them
Fascinating!
It is not that we are bad at self organizing, the gains that we have made to date is huge and as set us on this path, that would need a little bit of tweaking. The changes that we are trying to execute is controlled by people that will never relent or allow this system to collapse, it will be their downfall. The egregious behaviour of the West today is not a well thought through strategy by displaying your might that does not exists, and we must treat as such. We must come together as one and find each other share our knowledge and our gains so that every person is up to speed and launch and formidable a final push to restore humanity, take their useless actions with a pinch of salt show no fear and let us move forward in sync. To the guest you articulation of the facts is very impressive and will hope that your knowledge is shared with more people, the issue that resonate with me is how you deal with your students and see the respect you have, a fantastic relationship which is a testament to your commitment to educate, which gives hope and to the host thank you for bringing this high quality intellectuals, just as always.
Wow! I loved that. I subscribed to Michael Rossi.
Nice discussion gentleman
once more, phenomenal episode.
If the west was considering a conventional war against Russia they are not considering it now. With the pact with NOKO they have enough soldiers to stifle such an idea.
Political neoliberalism sure isn't the same as political liberalism.
Ukraine was shelling its own citizens and invited Russia for relief.
"A country more powerful than its neighbors concentrates troops and military equipment on the border of a region that can, at the very least, be considered an object of dispute between two peoples with different languages and cultures." This could be a description of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine before the war began. But it is not this historical fact that I am mentioning. In fact, what I did was describe Brazil's actions in the face of the territorial dispute that is taking place between Venezuela and French Guiana. No one, not even in Brazil, is paying much attention to this regional conflict. South America does not fit within the concept of "Western civilization" in the same way as South Korea and Japan, for example. Zelensky, in fact, called Brazil an uncivilized country, poor cocaine addicted devil. If civilization is the willingness to use military force to resolve international disputes with neighbors, aren't Brazilians the same as other peoples?
Can we have more Michael Rossi?
I would like to focus on a constructivist view on the different cultures that are coming into play with multipolarity, like Orthodox order of society (strongly oriented on human relationship) and Tianxia, which is all things under the Heaven and there is only one heaven so there is no need for anything "outside". There is no need for a political party outside THE political party that is the playground under the heaven for ALL political things.
Very good!
Loved the IR, CP, History discussion, as a fellow traveller, Rutgers mid-'90s
Dan Kovalik is a human rights lawyer and he has two reasons why the SMO was not started illegally. One is that Putin filed a "responsibilityA to protect" with the UN as they were commencing to shell the Donbass (near the border, iirc). The UN may not have accepted it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't valid. Back then, the UN was more in thrall of the U.S.
Ukraine was violating Russian speaker rights and there's this: "Moreover, as the Organization of World Peace reported in 2021, “according to Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Decree no. 117/2021, Ukraine has committed to putting all options on the table to taking back control over the Russian annexed Crimea region. Signed on March 24th, President Zelensky has committed the country to pursue strategies that . . . ‘will prepare and implement measures to ensure the de-occupation and reintegration of the peninsula.’”
And this: "In short, there is no doubt that Russia has been threatened, and in a quite profound way, with concrete destabilizing efforts by the US, NATO and their extremist surrogates in Ukraine. Russia has been so threatened for a full eight years. And Russia has witnessed what such destabilizing efforts have meant for other countries, from Iraq to Afghanistan to Syria to Libya - that is, nearly a total annihilation of the country as a functioning nation-state."
The whole article is at wwwDOTrtDOTcom/russia/554166-international-law-military-operation-ukraine/
Love these. Saw you on some shows, Pascal, and now have your tab up all the time. Have to get back to the discussion. Sounds like it's going to be awesome.
Vassals of Empire has no sovereignty, and explain why States do not seem to act in their best interest. Their actions make perfect sense from a Relist perspective internally.
Thanks Michael
Sounds like narcissistic personality disorder - Fantasy has to be fed, if not, everything crumbles.
We all get our information by what we hear, see and read, that's it. It is up to us to make what we will out of that using our gut instinct.
My gut is overloaded.
The Ukraine c9nflict coukd havr been avoided if NATO hadn't expanded for one thirty years .Despite repeated warnings from diplomats and experts. For over thirty years.
The naivete of believing an academic debate is possible on UT outside of the ever narrowing overton window ... thanks for all the fish.
This only makes sense in religious logic. Ideals are idols.
I think that to understand the EU's perspective here one has to recognize what the EU is there to do to Europe. In his Victory Day speech (the one Europe Day celebrates) Robert Schuman announced the beginnings of a federated Europe in order to make war between France and Germany, in his words, "materially impossible." The EU despite defense targets and delusions of a common army is effectively actually a mutual disarmament club. The fear of war on the Europena continent thus has lead them to a) largely disarm themselves, and b) look to outside protectors (mostly the US). So this leads necessarily to a certain America-worship. But then you also have a secondary goal which was the *expansion* of European colonialism (also mentioned in Schuman's speech). But nobody wants to feel like they are oppressors so they have to find some way to believe in their own power.
Interesting conversation. Also recommend Neil Oliver w/Tucker Carlson (June 20,2024)
Re Kosovo. As I understand it, the US deliberately sought UN legal opinion that would counter Article 2 dealing with sovereignty and territorial integrity. At that time Russia protested that such a reinterpretation of Article 2 was contrary to its original intent.
Nevertheless a convenient legal opinion was supplied to the effect that if a population subset within a territory voted for independence, this would not conflict with Article 2. I would suggest that the case of Kosovo was the application of hegemonic power by the US to bend the UN bureaucracy to it’s geopolitical objectives. Any subsequent “independence” breakaways are now the application of legal precedent established by the UN/US.
Thank you so much for this episode! Invaluable content in and age of cont-flation ❤
Empire/NATO invaded Yugoslavia/Serbia in violation of international law. Before Responsibility to protect was a thing. Kosovo occurred under a different set of international law. It is worthy to note that still no referendum have been held among the population vs session from Yugoslavia/Serbia.
In President Putin's press availability with Russian journalists on June 20 at the conclusion of his state visit to Vietnam ("Answers to questions from Russian journalists" at the Kremlin web presence), he reiterates that after the DPR and LPR declared their independence from Ukraine (which was legal per the precedent set by the UNSC's approval of Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in 2011), they made an Article 51 request to the Russian Federation for military assistance in response to which Mr. Putin launched the SMO.
Mearsheimer is taking voctory laps but he has come over to Waltz's Second Image to explain US foreign policy (which Waltz tried to separate from international politics in some aggregate sense)
Gréât rave❤
Guy are about 10 years behind the curve. In addition translations of full speeches have been available online from Kremlin for quite some time. If one does not believe the official translation, but have a better grasp on translation of Russian to English even without a deep understanding of Russian culture ... so be it. I think I prefer the official version.
Serbia only signed on to the communique because they know it is meaningless, but it helps them go along & get along. Plus no doubt the US & it's EU team surely put the pressure on.
One more thing. Portraying Kosovo & Crimea as somehow analogous is historically ignorant at best, utterly absurd at worst. Sorry.
Agree. A more adequate comparison would be Ukraine and Kosovo. Both make believe countries. Also omitting the difference in international law at the time of Kosovo and post, with the creation of 'Responsibility to protect', is significant.
Very interesting dialog! Thank you. One question: what degrowth has to do with international relations and geopolitics? In which sense the challenges humanity are facing in terms of climate change, loose of biodiversity, endind of fossil fuels, warming and increase in ocean salinity... are affected by geopolitical conflicts and tensions? In other words what is the ecosistemical scope of the international disorder?
If only I could co-ordinate as well as you two instead of the connections I've had with both Ukraine and Colombia strangely considering I'm stuck in the UK!
Mearsheimer’s analysis always falls apart here because he assumes a country and its commoners are the same thing. This is a really bad assumption here in U.K. Richie Sunak is really I popular and his likely replacement, Sir Keir, has less charisma than a ham sandwich, meanwhile the media is not trusted etc. so to analyse you need to consider the U.K. Elite and the U.K. commoners as distinct but related groups. In a country with as small a military as here the acknowledgment that conscription wouldn’t work is necessary.
Sorry but given the sad opportunities to Western humanity to learn about other civilisations during these 2 decades of conflict, when I recall what occurred to my thinking about these matters, I cannot allow Liberalism to be seen as benign.
The short version is, it is aristocratic, messianic, condescending, and also colonial. It feeds the normies with soothing stories about Robin Hood and this is it.
A more complex view is that it makes the construction of powerful structures a total privilege of aristocracy and academia. That's because as an individual that seeks remedy from some serious problem, they say it is "your" problem just because they don't like the topic. Then, it gets mirrored back to you, and you stay alone. But if they have a legit entry on that in their database, then you just have to subscribe to THEIR project about it. The normies are just sheep to the leading Liberalists. That's in other words, how they are patronizing the world including you. And it's a trick. Oligarchy patronizes "the weaker ones" ostensibly, being the dogooders, when actually the public to them is their lifestock, their herds of cattle. Liberal oligarchy is just oligarchy with a blue hat. I don't see much of the academic distinction between their topic of Liberalism and the liberalistic political oligarchy. It's like horse and bucket of water.
Very well observed and put
Liberalism seems like 'Freedum' with a lot of intellectual wrapping around it. An easy sell unless you go deeper into it.
Many of the terms used by the Establishment invert reality. "Liberal" is one such term. No one is more illiberal than a "Liberal". The messianic "Liberals" seem to take their inspiration from the New England Puritans. Nazis -- National Socialists -- are usually characterized as "right wing", but the extreme intolerance of the Liberazis makes me think that Nazis were actually "left wing". Would a right-wing movement call itself "Socialist"? It seems that we are often blindsided by our inculcated fear of "Left" and "Right" and cornered into supporting a "Center" that is far more extreme, insular, and inhuman than either flank.
The National Socialist, where neither Nationalists/Patriots or Socialist. But Imperialists set on global domination, backed by international finance.
You two should discuss the intellectual unraveling of Timothy Snyder author of Bloodlands and lately Ukrainian cheerleader at Kyiv Post ...
Let me add Dovid Katz, answering critically on Snyder's ideas and statements.
There is something that seems unknown to these two professors. It is the "Double Holocaust" revisionists, who deliberately say that Putin is the same as Hitler, and they use that as their vehicle of power. Especially to constructivists this method should be interesting. Shaking a system with heavy nonsense as a tool to exert control.