Russia Ukraine war, page-3788

Seriously flawed thinking.

There is no actual threat to Russia's security. Just the perception.

What threatens Russia is democracy in close neighbours. That's what shits Putin to tears. He KNOWS nobody is going to invade Russia. COME ON!! But he knows that democracy might spread and that's a direct threat to his personal authority.

The messages from the US are complex because democracy gets mixed up with corporations seeking to exploit and the military industrial complex. But the reality is that the oligarchs want to live in the West, the educated kids want to live in the West, and the rising middle classes want western benefits. They want the freedom of the West.

This is what threatens both Xi and Putin. They're autocrats and they've got a lot in common. Not all of it is good.