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Ukraine

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On the Danish news programme, Deadline, the British-accented Columbia Professor Adam Tooze* said that in a way the West had already used "the nuclear option" financially by sanctioning the Russian Central Bank so Putin can't spend the gold and cash reserves on propping up the Russian econony and the war in Ukraine.

He predicted a fall in the Russian GNP of 10% at first and then that figure would become a long term fall of 7 to 8 %. That will slow down the Russian economy immensely every year from now.

Despite Putin's fake news and disinformation prowess, he still fights wars in the old ("Game of Thrones") way and most likely did not foresee the financial "nuclear option" used by a united West.

* Adam holds the Shelby Cullom Davis chair of History at Columbia University and serves as Director of the European Institute. In 2019, Foreign Policy Magazine named him one of the top Global Thinkers of the decade.
 
ErikL said:
Russian Oligarch’s Superyacht Seized in Germany

Sweet. Maybe a free airbnb for refugees from Ukraine? Great job Germany!
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It needs to be done. It may be gross to the sniffy class but the gloves need to come off on both sides. Putin has done it so what’s a few boats compared to his onslaught? The world order with most of the wealth in a few hands isn’t sustainable in the long term. I have to say I have skin in the game here:)
 
MUTTY1 said:
This is worth your attention. A Russian, born in france(?) raised/educated in the USA, going to Russia at 19. Has been a successful presenter on both American and Russian television! Excellent speaker. First forty minutes is lecture, the rest Q&A. Unconvincing on Salisbury, but otherwise powerful arguments.
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good speaker, yet what I saw tbh is an unmistakable and at times frankly shameless soviet/russian and especially putin foreign policy propaganda. Still, some useful perspectives to bear in mind
 
EPear said:
good speaker, yet what I saw tbh is an unmistakable and at times frankly shameless soviet/russian and especially putin foreign policy propaganda. Still, some useful perspectives to bear in mind
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Pozner is a very clever and knowledgeable chap, with a lifetime of articulating first the Soviet and then the Russian perspective in a persuasive way. Always interesting to listen to, once you've factored in he's as good at spin as Alistair Campbell.
 
EPear said:
good speaker, yet what I saw tbh is an unmistakable and at times frankly shameless soviet/russian and especially putin foreign policy propaganda. Still, some useful perspectives to bear in mind
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PsB said:
Pozner is a very clever and knowledgeable chap, with a lifetime of articulating first the Soviet and then the Russian perspective in a persuasive way. Always interesting to listen to, once you've factored in he's as good at spin as Alistair Campbell.
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And we do need to grok the Russian perspective on all of this, if we're ever to find a peaceful way to coexist with them.
 
The Russians can’t be taken even remotely seriously as long as they are blathering on about Ukraine being overrun with Nazis. I’ve just sat through a live interview with Lavrov and he never left this obvious propaganda narrative for a second. We heard exactly the same in Aleppo where the dictatorship was trying to pin the democratic uprising on ISIS etc. Just blatant lies.
 
A couple of questions for members to ponder?

Should Ukraine fall in the next week or two and having mobilised his forces, what should the West do if Putin uses the opportunity to invade one or more of the following:

1. Moldova

2. Finland/Sweden

3. Latvia/Estonia/Lithuania
 
1 & 2 are tricky but 3 is, sadly, more straightforward. They're NATO member states and have NATO forces deployed there.
 
simon g said:
No ifs or buts, just do it. Pontificating on here will achieve the square root of diddly squat. This is real action that will help real people, right now.

https://donation.dec.org.uk/ukraine-humanitarian-appeal
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Thanks. That's the best news I've seen on this subject in the last week. Will sort this later.
Can this link be added to the charity section?

Tony L said:
The Russians can’t be taken even remotely seriously as long as they are blathering on about Ukraine being overrun with Nazis. I’ve just sat through a live interview with Lavrov and he never left this obvious propaganda narrative for a second. We heard exactly the same in Aleppo where the dictatorship was trying to pin the democratic uprising on ISIS etc. Just blatant lies.
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Totally agree. The worrying part is that they all believe their own lies. That makes them VERY dangerous indeed.
 
notaclue said:
In the UK, he'd have been given as much time as he needed to sell it for cash. Money nicely laundered as planned.
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I do agree that our feet-dragging is disgraceful, but realistically, given that so many other countries have applied sanctions already, who are they going to sell to?
 
Tony L said:
The Russians can’t be taken even remotely seriously as long as they are blathering on about Ukraine being overrun with Nazis. I’ve just sat through a live interview with Lavrov and he never left this obvious propaganda narrative for a second. We heard exactly the same in Aleppo where the dictatorship was trying to pin the democratic uprising on ISIS etc. Just blatant lies.
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As I think someone posted upthread, 'Nazi' seems to have slightly different connotations in Russia. While Western Europe thinks primarily of the holocaust, the Russian memory of WWII is dominated by the 27m Russian deaths at the hands of the Nazis. So 'Nazi' becomes shorthand for any military oppressors who seek to invade Russia.

(Russian members - please correct me if I've misunderstood)
 
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