I wrote this article several days ago, although, after Trump’s astonishing drubbing of Zelensky in the White House today (28 February) it is even more relevant now.
"That school finally closed it doors in May 2023, having supported diplomatic children – including my two – for seventy-four years without interruption." If I had been expat somewhere like you mine would have been in such places.
They shut a school over this conflict? Unbelievable.
This hatred of Russia out of the blue pushed relentlessly has baffled me. It was Gaddafi, then back further - Saddam, then further Bin Laden (Colonel Tim Osman in fact), then....then....
I always refer to that Mitchell and Web sketch "Are we the baddies?" but the uniforms are not German!
Speaking of pettiness, I recently found out that Google won’t even show search results for flights to Russia from anywhere. I had to use Yandex. The pettiness is baffling.
Love that you mentioned that. My ‘funny’ related anecdote is that there used to be an official EU site dedicated to comparing civilian casualties of the 2014-2022 period with the post-2022 period. I used to share it profusely but haven’t been able to find it for a few weeks now, since it still showed that the Ukrainian Nazis killed about 20,000 ethic Russians (civilian casualties in the Donbass), while the SMO had a total of around 10,000 civilian casualties (bad of course, but still showed a 2:1 disadvantage for Ukronazis). So I’m guessing it was taken down as it didn’t quite show what they were originally hoping to show.
Ian - how much of Russian history have you been able to absorb over the years there?
When I lived in Saudi 1994 to 1999 (I was a research scientist at King Fahd University Dhahran), the one thing I took mind of to understand the culture was to learn Saudi history, which represented a (literally!) explosive mix of tradition and modernity within 50 years of oil exploration. You learnt to accept things good and bad about the host country, without a sense of Western superiority. That mindset is even harder to achieve in my present country, Germany! ;)
How much of the events of the region given you an appreciation of what makes the place tick? I retain a stubbornly open mind on the place knowing very little but having seen the living conditions forced upon them from Dresden to Ulan Bataar since the Russian Revolution, I have this awestruck respect for how they actually survive the hardships piled onto them by the West since - is it even as far back as - the Crimean War?
Am I right that the Western architects of this conflict are even related to the original conspirators from long ago? This grudge goes back decades?
Scott Ritter has discussed on his videos how he wishes the West would appreciate how many Russians paid the ultimate price for the liberation of the West from the N*zis.
I don’t like Putin but, unfortunately for me living in we love Zelenskyy land, I don’t like him either. However, being me, I did enjoy Trump putting the facts to Z firmly, probably for the first time ever, as everyone else he meets seems to fall at his feet with love, promising to send troops and money. It amuses me that he attends meets looking as if he’s going to the park for a stroll, as, in my opinion, this is part of his, I’m a really ordinary guy and not a millionaire act, which I don’t like either, why can’t he wear a suit?
I hate to say this but my first thought after the WH bloodbath this afternoon was; Zelenskyy might want to reconsider how safe it is for him to return home. Nobody who is paying attention can view this as anything other than an end of US support for Ukraine and there will be some very angry people waiting upon his return.
I agree and particularly so after the incident at the WH. It will be interesting to see what results from the Lancaster House meeting but there is no way the US will guarantee whatever they cobble together. Trump is free now to treat the EU as it deserves. He will save a lot of money to be more usefully used in the USA. Stormer needs to be careful as the UK has a lot of skeletons which Trump will happily rattle which will destabilise Stormer and our deep state.
The LH meeting seems to have produced nothing that radical. If a coalition of the willing can be formed to offer real security guarantees, then that may be no bad thing. But let’s wait to see how the Russians and Americans respond.
"That school finally closed it doors in May 2023, having supported diplomatic children – including my two – for seventy-four years without interruption." If I had been expat somewhere like you mine would have been in such places.
They shut a school over this conflict? Unbelievable.
This hatred of Russia out of the blue pushed relentlessly has baffled me. It was Gaddafi, then back further - Saddam, then further Bin Laden (Colonel Tim Osman in fact), then....then....
I always refer to that Mitchell and Web sketch "Are we the baddies?" but the uniforms are not German!
Speaking of pettiness, I recently found out that Google won’t even show search results for flights to Russia from anywhere. I had to use Yandex. The pettiness is baffling.
Indeed. Try looking up Ukrainian casualty figures on Google too.
Love that you mentioned that. My ‘funny’ related anecdote is that there used to be an official EU site dedicated to comparing civilian casualties of the 2014-2022 period with the post-2022 period. I used to share it profusely but haven’t been able to find it for a few weeks now, since it still showed that the Ukrainian Nazis killed about 20,000 ethic Russians (civilian casualties in the Donbass), while the SMO had a total of around 10,000 civilian casualties (bad of course, but still showed a 2:1 disadvantage for Ukronazis). So I’m guessing it was taken down as it didn’t quite show what they were originally hoping to show.
Bonkers, right? Relations are somehow worse now than during Soviet times.
Ian - how much of Russian history have you been able to absorb over the years there?
When I lived in Saudi 1994 to 1999 (I was a research scientist at King Fahd University Dhahran), the one thing I took mind of to understand the culture was to learn Saudi history, which represented a (literally!) explosive mix of tradition and modernity within 50 years of oil exploration. You learnt to accept things good and bad about the host country, without a sense of Western superiority. That mindset is even harder to achieve in my present country, Germany! ;)
How much of the events of the region given you an appreciation of what makes the place tick? I retain a stubbornly open mind on the place knowing very little but having seen the living conditions forced upon them from Dresden to Ulan Bataar since the Russian Revolution, I have this awestruck respect for how they actually survive the hardships piled onto them by the West since - is it even as far back as - the Crimean War?
Am I right that the Western architects of this conflict are even related to the original conspirators from long ago? This grudge goes back decades?
Scott Ritter has discussed on his videos how he wishes the West would appreciate how many Russians paid the ultimate price for the liberation of the West from the N*zis.
I don’t like Putin but, unfortunately for me living in we love Zelenskyy land, I don’t like him either. However, being me, I did enjoy Trump putting the facts to Z firmly, probably for the first time ever, as everyone else he meets seems to fall at his feet with love, promising to send troops and money. It amuses me that he attends meets looking as if he’s going to the park for a stroll, as, in my opinion, this is part of his, I’m a really ordinary guy and not a millionaire act, which I don’t like either, why can’t he wear a suit?
I hate to say this but my first thought after the WH bloodbath this afternoon was; Zelenskyy might want to reconsider how safe it is for him to return home. Nobody who is paying attention can view this as anything other than an end of US support for Ukraine and there will be some very angry people waiting upon his return.
I agree and particularly so after the incident at the WH. It will be interesting to see what results from the Lancaster House meeting but there is no way the US will guarantee whatever they cobble together. Trump is free now to treat the EU as it deserves. He will save a lot of money to be more usefully used in the USA. Stormer needs to be careful as the UK has a lot of skeletons which Trump will happily rattle which will destabilise Stormer and our deep state.
The LH meeting seems to have produced nothing that radical. If a coalition of the willing can be formed to offer real security guarantees, then that may be no bad thing. But let’s wait to see how the Russians and Americans respond.