United States
3
U.S. AND RUSSIA AREN'T THAT DIFFERENT
Ex-CIA agent and creator of 'The Americans' says US and Russia aren't that different.
As Russian troops amass on the Ukrainian border, Joseph Weisberg, author of ‘Russia Upside Down,’ argues that a little empathy – and eased sanctions – could go a long way
And, he says, it’s not as if Russian President Vladimir Putin is making much ado about nothing when it comes to the eastward expansion of NATO.
Weisberg says that at the end of the Cold War, the West tricked the Soviet Union by assuring the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, that if he enabled German unification, the NATO coalition would not move further east.
“But very shortly after that, NATO started expanding to the east, moving militarily closer and closer to Russia, and taking in members that had formerly been part of the Warsaw Pact. So it’s pretty understandable that any large nation would feel threatened and encircled by that,” says Weisberg.
“Also, when the United States puts an anti-defense missile system right in the middle of Russia’s backyard in Eastern Europe, how is that going to look to Russia?”
A case in point, he says, is a recent news story attributed to the British Foreign Office that claimed Russian intelligence is in contact with Ukrainian politicians to prepare for a takeover of Kyiv. Weisberg claims while the story “is certainly plausible, it could also just be something that some source made up.”
Weisberg has some advice for the Biden administration if it wants to improve relations with Moscow. For one thing, he says, a little self-awareness would go a long way. Weisberg notes, for instance, how Russia’s political and military interests in Ukraine are not that different from the US’s own in Latin America, which have caused enormous suffering over the last few decades.
He also says the US should “make a conscious decision to stop fighting Russia,” and recuse itself from the conflict with Ukraine. It’s a fairly radical view. The US, after all, has military commitments to its NATO allies and partners across Europe that it can’t just ignore.
But Weisberg insists that Washington needs to take a less aggressive approach if it wants the ongoing tensions between the West and Russia to simmer down in the near to medium future.
“Russia seems to be concerned about US involvement in Ukraine, and about aggression towards Russia more broadly,” he says. “While the US seems to be concerned about Russian aggression around the world, and more specifically in Ukraine, and neither side seems to be able to step back from the brink.”
https://archive.is/stfOJ
https://www.theapricity.com/forum/sh...11#post7420511
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by VikLevaPatel
Very Disturbing Move by the IRS
Россия
Bookmarks