George Kennan: The Cold War Architect Who Opposed The War

[@noricd]

Superb insights on how sometimes national and geopolitical policy formation can emerge late one night out of a bar populated solely by monolingual Foreign Affairs journal reading careerists, stagger down a sidewalk like a blind drunk, till the drunk's head hits a light poll, feet give way, and the drunk collapses across the kerb gutter, while vehicles swerve to miss the drunk, themselves ending up in a multi-vehicle pileup metres away. That scene is added to the images I have of the origins of the Cold War yesterday, and the New Cold War today. Thank you to you both for this conversation. I learned a lot. I salute you Frank Costigliola.

[@EpicGeopolitics]

Found this really useful. Thanks guys.

[@ethankennan8943]

My great grandpa

[@xxgleichfort5125]

Thank you for these clear statements: Putin no madman, NATO-Expansion realised as dangerous long before 2022, hurting russias security-interests, Russia regarded Ukraine as an intergral part of russia - like americans do with the Midwest.

[@northstarmind1049]

I got to the part abt where he talks abt "the growth of Ukrainian nationalism" -- which I completely disagree with as an explanation for today's post-2013 Ukraine -- & "Putin didn't have to invade Ukraine" -- & my response would be, 'You mean like JFK didn't have to blockade Cuba (itself an act of war) & bring the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation?' Not to mention The Monroe Doctrine -- & even The Truman Doctrine (which basically says, once all the PR talk/hypocrisy is stripped away) that the U.S. has the right to go around the world overturning govts the U.S. doesnt like & can -- or even the way the U.S. govt militarily *chose* to interpret 'The Containment Doctrine' (not the way Kennan actually originally meant it).

[@minniewipster8130]

If Kennan only knew about Nord Stream...

[@lisakong8651]

...and containing a different beast known as china

[@GlobalDrifter1000]

Whaaa?

[@minniewipster8130]

@@GlobalDrifter1000 The question asked near the end, "what would Kennan have thought..."

[@williamh2594]

ah, so machine production is the problem?! - that's like saying the really big problem if the discovery of fire or the creation of the wheel ...

[@詠萱-5oi]

I think the problem is more about centering our workplace and our way of working around machines rather than the existence of machines.