The Ukraine War From Russia's Perspective

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In spite of the raging fight on the ground, the #Ukraine war is not really about Ukraine. It is about #Russia attempting to restore the #multipolar global order that was lost.
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[@CaspianReport]

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[@no5829]

LoL

[@randyross5630]

Forethought: Get the Huck Off an American Dot Com, Commie!

[@randyross5630]

Russia's going to Collaspe, you got that Commie! Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes!

[@philodox9991]

no

[@demiru.2833]

heartbreaking

[@jokuvaan5175]

Just goes to show Baltics joining the NATO after the collapse of USSR was absolutely the right move to preserve their independence

[@matt.willoughby]

Absolutely.

[@mati99ish]

exactly ! I'm from Poland and I'm glad we are in NATO now all that Russia can do to us is throw shit in youtube comment sections. Stability feels so fucking nice

[@megadick6000]

Pretty much guarantees that Finland and Sweden are gonna join now as well

[@airwakkerre1861]

@@mati99ish NATO may burn slowly but steadily

[@BLASTIC0]

Depends, that could end up turning out to be a bad choice in the big picture, I think its a little too early to tell. Perhaps if the US was not part of NATO, Russia and the remainder of NATO could find some long term balance of power. I wish we, the US, would not get involved with anything overseas.

[@dee-jay45]

It is baffling that Russia would focus exclusively on the geopolitical side of being a superpower, when economic and technological prowess matter much more. But I guess achieving those would require fundamental changes to Russia's cleptocracy which its rulers don't want to make. But that's also why current Russia will never be a superpower.

[@logannicholson1850]

It’s because Russia will never be able to compete economically or technologically with the EU or US, they simply don’t have the capability too they aren’t integrated into the world economy like China they don’t have the same level or tech transfer either, the only 2 things Russia has is raw resources and military power they have literally have nothing else to work with because they will never be able to make something else to work with

[@michaelkovacic2608]

I believe Russia's actions are triggered by its lack of soft power, so they think they must resort to hard power to make up for it. But military action cannot buy political influence, so this course of action is fatally flawed.

[@SudaneseChamp]

Perhaps their current thought is what is the point of all of that when an invading army can enter easily and take it.

[@xiaoka]

They have a lot more military might than economic. Economically they’re another Italy except with oil and natural gas…

[@oldgreybeard2507]

I am pleased you included the final sentence. The West's view of 'Russian might' and especially the NATO alliances view of the Russian military is most likely undergoing a fundamental change. They have been shown to be a disorganised terrorist nation run by thugs with Nukes.

[@GhostSoulVII]

"They believe that peace is a lie, just another means of decay, like death by a thousand cuts" Your closing lines are always incredible

[@nikonufrienko2064]

The collapse of the Soviet Union was more related to the ideological defeat of the USSR than to geopolitical or economic reasons. Now the Russian Federation is waging an imperialist struggle, which is fueled by revanchist sentiments in Russian society.

[@SwiftJustice]

It reminds me of his brief chess analogy. The Siloviki believe peace is a lie the same way the chesspieces would.

[@charlesjenner1951]

The pacifist vision of the allied nations after the world wars found its translation in the Charter of the United Nations signed by nearly 200 countries. This system wanted to make the existing borders "sacred" and modifiable only by negotiation. In this system, all sovereign nations, no matter how small, have equal rights and their borders and sovereignty are protected by the Charter with the backing of the Security Council where the victors of WWII and other very powerful nations sit. The superpowers of the Security Council have not respected the Charter, first and foremost the United States when they thought it was in their interest to invade Iraq to bring down a hostile government. It seems to me that the Russian Federation is clumsily trying to copy the United States by attacking in its neighborhood, Ukraine, which is one of the oldest colonies of the Russian imperial era. What a damage to the world peace!

[@0ldb1ll]

Peace is an irrelevance. Russia is a major nuclear power, therefore nobody will dare to attack it.

[@looinrims]

They’re also stupid sophistry

[@karabaevtarabaev3971]

"Alexander Doogin - the most inflental Russian political speaker"? How many Russians have heard about him?

[@salusasec]

Es ist nicht wichtig, wie viele Dugin hören, sondern wer Dugin zuhört.

[@arseniklas]

"Excluding Russia’s gas reserves in Asia, Ukraine today holds the second biggest known gas reserves in Europe. As of late 2019, known Ukrainian reserves amounted to 1.09 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, second only to Norway’s known resources of 1.53 trillion cubic meters. Yet, these enormous reserves of energy remain largely untapped." Yea, if Ukraine got that gas up and running it would clearly diminish Russian energy power over Europe.

[@tonespeaks]

@Niklas H I would look into that..... would be very interesting if that is true. If what you say is true, Russia will have to control Ukraine for decades.

[@ucuppsani6767]

Today Ukraine going to HELL

[@tttt-fh5ex]

Ukrainian Nazi "Azov"(they wear swastika, if you noticed) has been bombing Donbass people (Russian speaking Ukrainians) for 8! years. Check out :"Donbass" 2016 by Anne Laure Bonnel, "Ukraine on fire" by Oliver Stone, Graham Phillips', Patrick Lancaster's old and new reportages from Donbass. Now Ukrainian Nazi "Azov" uses Ukrainians as human shield, you can watch interviews with ukrainians from Mariupol on Patrick Lancaster's channel. Why do think there's a monument for Stepan Bandera(nazist) in Lviv, Ukraine?

[@eVill420]

@@ucuppsani6767 sure buddy

[@just_a_turtle_chad]

@@ucuppsani6767 It's already in hell by Russia invading it.

[@st0ox]

Instead of reducing the open western flank with NATO from 2000km to 600km they pushed Finland closer to NATO and may now face a 3000km border with NATO in the future instead.

[@meilinchan7314]

It also explains why China is eager to work with the EU, on and off, and its more conciliatory position toward Ukraine compared to Russia. The idea that the white man must crack the whip over the brown man, the black man and ultimately the yellow man is anathema to China.

[@irham191]

Its no longer a concern, given that we already in 2 cold war. The concern in the future will be nuclear attack

[@Bitchslapper316]

@@meilinchan7314 This isn't 1756. No one is cracking whips on anyone in the western world.

[@josephorr5175]

And Russia is now in default, with a doomed economic future that may never be able to sustain the defense of ANY border.

[@irham191]

@@josephorr5175 have you look at a rubel to usd recently? They bounce back

[@jdaniel3068]

While your content is unmatched on YT, your voice is also absolutely calming yet authoritative. A 2nd channel reading a book for about an hour each episode would certainly play in my bedroom nightly 🤣

[@GordonLonghouse]

The striking thing about this analysis is that Russia by seeking to defend itself from a 19th century conception of a threat (infantry marching on Moscow) has left itself more vulnerable in terms of 21st century conception of power which turns on economic output.

[@natmaren989]

Yes, the current leaders of Russia largely think in terms of the 19th and 20th centuries.

[@vittoriosecreto6346]

I understood it's hypersonic mussiles 3 minutes from moscow

[@MrRoyalbeers]

@@vittoriosecreto6346 if you really really wanted to. You could dronebomb everything with ebay shit.

[@insanetubegain]

The main economic output of Russia is fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are now on the decline as alternate and sustainable energy technology is being ramped up and will soon become the dominate energy source in the west and China. This will only compound Russia's situation.

[@user-mw6ec3wh2e]

Опять же спорный момент. У нас, в России, всё есть, кроме технологий. Путин же скандал, что зачем нам торговать с ЕС, коли мы на эти доллары, полученные от внешней торговли этой, ничего не можем купить. Собственно сказать, русские в какой-то мере торговали в убыток все последние 30 лет с Зарубежной Европой. Подумайте, в России всё есть, кроме технологий. Хлеб есть, гречка есть... Нет лишь новейших технологий.

[@markmuller7962]

"A world power or no Russia" Which is the epitome of a self fulfilling prophecy

[@jacqdanieles]

Their outlook is bizarre. Germany rose from the ashes & became an economic powerhouse. They leveraged that into present day EU where they are the top dog. Russia, meanwhile, has managed to do the opposite: destroy their economy & become global pariahs.

[@opus3989]

Im all for of making independent democratic countries out of russia

[@lexethonor294]

Hitler said the same.

[@aurorathekitty7854]

@@lexethonor294 Your right. It was either a German superpower or no Germany at all. Look at Germany today it's a shell of it's former self. Yea it is Europe biggest economy today but if you look at what it was before ww1 it could of been a superpower today.

[@cowboybeboop9420]

@@opus3989 Pfff.....that`s a lot of horse shit. If Russia falls then China takes over. The dirty secret than nobody wants to admit is that China has bigger industrial capabilities than the US and 4 times the population so as good as the US army is it cannot win a war with China unless it uses nukes. The army is better but it`s not 4 times better. Now imagine China annexing the resources of Siberia. The West can barely control China right now with her expanding network of allies like Myanmar, North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Ethiopia, basically all of Central Asia and large parts of Africa. Imagine what that would mean for those people who at currently are living peacefully in Russia but would turn into Yugur type concentration camp prisoners in their millions. The USSR collapse was largely peaceful but a war in a nuclear country could very well end humanity as well. Most of the countries that would break off like Chechnya would probably become radical dictatorships as well. The idea of democracy is overrated.

[@dragatus]

I'm baffled how anyone in the 21st century can still take the Heartland theory seriously. It focuses too much on geography at the expense of other factors, overestimated the development of rail (in reality ship transport remains by far the cheapest and most efficient even after more than a century), doesn't account for air/nuclear/cyber power (though nobody writing in 1904 could've done that), it overvalues land/resources and undervalues people/skilled labor (just compare economies of Japan or South Korea vs Russia), and in general seems to largely be more a product of 19th century Anglo-Russian rivalry in Asia than actually developed from first principles.

[@teaCupkk]

I think it's resentment. Resentment of the nebulous West/NATO/US/Europe drives these folks to try and rationalize, to chase romantic notions of geopolitics. Their feeble minds thus echo Putin's bogus "security concerns", which Putin himself doesn't even believe. It's clearly just an alibi.

[@tellyboy17]

But if your economy is basically stuck in the 19th century, designed to keep a kleptocracy in power rather than become a globally competitive economic force it makes sense that a country will look at its military as the only way to compete globally.

[@Jammin_Ham]

Not to mention nuclear weapons and the ability of a serious co-ordinated cyber attack to take down key infrastructure that can cripple a country. It doesn’t just seem outdated, it seems downright idiotic. The idea that anyone is going to invade Russia no matter how big the enemy, is just sheer lunacy. The fact they have the worlds biggest nuclear arsenal means they are safe from invasion, at least until there is some new weapons that neutralises their ability to launch them.

[@teaCupkk]

I don't think Putin had many illusions regarding the Russian military. The Soviet and later Russian military was always neutered, for fear of a coup. Putin bluffed again, expecting Ukraine to fold. And now he is caught out in the cold with his paper army. His blunder will set both Russia and the Ukraine back a decade, if not more.

[@tellyboy17]

@@Jammin_Ham Caspian Report's analysis is completely based on the idea that countries are plotting on invading each other all the time which is absurd in an age of nuclear deterrence and it's hard to imagine that Putin really considers NATO a military threat, until he invaded Ukraine the Western mindset towards Russia was one of peaceful coexistence. But Putin does want Russia to be a world power so it wants to project power over its neighbors I guess, and had the Ukrainians been the meek "spare Russians" Putin though they were they would have been de demographic boon for Russia. Now they are just a liability thwarting his plans for European domination.

[@leebee1100]

Thank you for creating this entertaining and well said encapsulation of the situation in Ukraine and Russia and Europe for those of us just trying to understand what is going on in the first place. You are awesome and I love your channel!

[@Meloncholymadness]

NATO promised not to bring Warsaw Pact countries into NATO after collapse of Soviet Union..

[@ryanwschneeberger]

With reference to Europe in the world wars Winston Churchill said "In the west the armies were too big for the land. In the east the land was too big for the armies."

[@geordiejones5618]

Been that way for thousands of years now. Only the Mongols ever really got close to a Eurasian superstate but that only lasted two lifetimes before splintering. The Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates were Afro-Asiatic superstates but thats about it.

[@riam5429]

Winston the racist

[@justamoroccandude2588]

@@geordiejones5618 The Muslims could do it Again that's why the west created Isreal to separate west and eastern parts of the Islamic world in Addition to this the west tried to keep Asia sleeping but ironically china Rose from nowhere the world is changing I see the future where the Eastern or old world taking control over the world India and China are rising all is left is Africa the Islamic world and South America

[@AnuJ-vu5xn]

Okay then winston chruchil surely needs to learn history before 1500s too ...

[@doh917]

Churchill was also a war monger and single handedly brought down the British Empire through his hubris of adventurism that lead to Britain's involvement in WWI and leading to actions that influenced the run up to WWII. But those narratives aren't discussed in polite textbooks

[@MrTeniguafez]

"Weltmacht oder Niedergang" (world power or downfall) was also the basis of foreign policy for the German Empire. It didn't end well.

[@buddermonger2000]

In that point it did make some sense since everyone around them was a world power as well so the only way to survive was to also become a world power. In its current position it's also a world power as it drives the entirety of the EU along with the French. So really right now it achieved that goal.

[@someguy3766]

It is also an evidently flawed premise because Germany lost two world wars, and yet still exists today and remains a huge economic and geopolitical power. If there was a ever a time that a totally defeated power would be utterly destroyed from the pages of history, it was Germany in 1945. Russia's belief that the West wants to eradicate it is delusional and is what makes them an inherently destabilising force.

[@a.f.w.froschkonig2978]

You should not forget an important detail otherwise the headline could mislead the reader : They did not achieve their positions by military aggression. That makes a very remarkable difference in my opinion. Unfortunately in hindsight Wilhelm was so peaceloving that he missed the unique opportunity of 1905 that would have changed the world forever and spared a lot of future casualties.

[@nickw748]

@@a.f.w.froschkonig2978 What opportunity?

[@pekka1900]

It would seem that the 18th and 19th century power politics has to be knocked out from a country with a club. It happened to France and Germany, and now Russia still remains in this 200 year old mentality, and poses a threat not only to itself, but neighbors as well.

[@kafon6368]

Russia should've fought in the economic stage. Not only does Japan have major economic power with their industry and skilled labor, they have nearly the same POPULATION as Russia. An ISLAND having almost the same number of people as the largest country in the world! People matter. Not only land. People, and the number of people *matter*

[@Ebb0Productions]

Exactly. The People and their values.

[@charlesmaeger6162]

A big factor are the many energy pipelines (largely built by Russia) running through Ukraine from Russia towards the EU in the west. In the east of Ukraine, more than a trillion feet of natural gas have been discovered. Russia's physical invasion of Ukraine may have to do with this.

[@dendradwar9464]

Absolutely .. all wars are always about resources .. this is no different .. Also explains why the West is so unwilling to let Donbas have a say in its future .. Nobody would have cared about Kuwait if it did not have oil ..

[@taiwanSmart]

In Russians' perspective, why nobody asked why no one wants to go back to join Russian's family

[@4epa1012]

This is not the issue, the real issue is that someone wants to go against the Russian family.

[@marcussoininen2084]

@@4epa1012 No, nobody gives a shit about the Russian family. In fact, nobody would miss it if it disappeared entirely.

[@htjohn8202]

@@4epa1012 that's not the problem at all, nobody want to go against russia, that's just what russians think for some stupid reason but russians also think that germans are still nazis even thou we are one of the least nationalistic nations left on this earth sadly. Admin ST asked the correct question.

[@eylolallaneeee]

@@4epa1012 Jeah, its a shame the russian state is attacking the other slavic regions.

[@4epa1012]

@@eylolallaneeee I admit that. But I guess there was no room for other choice, NATO pushed the Russians to the corner, Russia had nothing else left to do.

[@liversuccess1420]

Poland and the Baltic countries are certainly under no illusions about this. They agree with the analysis you put forward in this video, which is that they would be the next victims of Russia's need to control the plains region. They've been talking about it for years, but it was seen by some of the Western European countries as alarmism. No longer...

[@mcnikonov]

Baltic with Poland can't control even their anuses. What are u talking about?

[@rayhoodoo847]

Exactly, the threat is real, it has been very real, it proved itself to be real twice already in the last century. Many people in the West are now shocked by the atrocities, backwardness and imperialism of the russian people and their country after their attack on Ukraine, but we in the Baltics have known all about it for centuries. That's why we WANT to be with NATO, because as flawed as some western ideologies are, they are still far better than Russia.

[@Castiel667]

It’s no surprise that the countries who’s presidents arrived in Tbilisi in 2008 to stop the Russian Tanks were the presidents of Ukraine, Poland and Baltic States. The famous words by Lech Kaczyński that today it’s Georgia, tomorrow - Ukraine, then Baltic States and eventually Poland.

[@piotr5830]

As your fellow Polish friend I speak with confidence - we will fight for every meter of our land. Though we will not wait for the war to happen on our land passively. Not this time.

[@HK-gm8pe]

Baltics are totally differen tpoeple...we are not even slavs,...estonians are uralians and latvians and lithuanians balti people..this land has always belong to us first, our uralian ancestors came here first! its just thateverybody started conquering our land over and ove again...we were slaves long in our own home than balck people were in US( yeah it really happened ).,...but also we won the independance wa rin 1929 butthey broke the PIECE TREATEY and came back!So it was illegal occupation and oppression for 48 years...they also deported thousands of baltic people to siberian gulags as an acttu russify the countries...wekl he failed!!! now Purin talks like our countries always belonged to Russia...like WTF MAN??? Russia signed piecetreaty so they have to saty away from us....Estonia has highest GDP per captia from all ex-soviet countries...we can just look the factthat countries who had putins puppet on power did horribly and countries that adapted democracy joined EU and NATO arw blossoming , dont think that Putin comes affter Baltcs tho...I dont know how is it on Latvia and Lithuania but most estonians here even dont speak russiand.,..they tried for 48 to russify our country butthey failed sooo badly that estonian people finally spoke up and cryied for freedom by singing ....if they couldnt russify the country with 48 yearsthen its very stupid to try again...

[@bertveilleux1701]

The biggest difference between NATO and USSR is nato is a choice, a military alliance where none of the member countries interferes with each other’s politics. Russia wants to centrally command everything which never works out long term.

[@MrRoyalbeers]

Thats a very accurate point. Thank you friend.

[@stevelossing1977]

NATO doesn't interfere in politics?! Operation Gladio.

[@Danheim641]

Judging by the comments. There are a lot of imbeciles in here. I mean, To have the audacity to come and say that America doesn't interfere with the internal affairs of other NATO countries is like saying that the sun doesn't set in the west. To be precise, Only those countries are allowed into the NATO which virtually surrender their policies - both domestic as well foreign, to the United States or those who are "actually" in power in the United States. And by "actually" i dont mean Boe Jiden😉 or other clowns like him. The control is so streamlined and organised that everything is done at mere Whims.

[@markokovac603]

🤣😅🤣😅

[@radicaIarchitect]

Nato actually interferes with policies mate, they do it even more than the USSR ever did, currently Moscow is even quite in the world stage, I haven't seen any Russian regime change

[@LabelsAreMeaningless]

This leaves out a massive amount of context to the conflict. Verified history which has a ton to do with what's going on. Yes NATO is part of it but a decade of Russian speaking Ukrainians being under constant shelling has a large influence. It doesn't help that NATO and the West are also tied to that, and never helped enforce Minske. This current situation is a conflict of the past decade at least. To ignore that is to try and distract or bury important aspects.

[@fabik805]

"A decade of Russian speaking Ukrainians being under constant shelling" its called war my friend. There was an 8 year long war in the Donbas between Russian proxies and Ukrainian forces. Nobody was explicitily shelling russian speaking Ukrainians. And the seperatists where the ones who constantly broke the Minsk agreement and then these clowns complained why Ukraine wasn't following it anymore.

[@matimoonhoney5606]

Preventive war is like committing suicide out of fear of death. Otto von Bismarck German chancellor till 1890

[@mingmiao364]

Best comment

[@Etzellll]

Tell that to Israel, and its accomplished victory, in the 6 days war. Pre emptive strikes can win the war for you, if done correctly.

[@danilaagapitov1627]

well, apparently, he was wrong

[@justaguy6100]

"Fighting for peace is like fuck!ng for virginity." Famous Vietnam era quote.

[@Etzellll]

@Hernando Malinche Your comment is nonsensical. Racial or ethnic composition has nothing to do with an effectiveness of the army, it is about the material conditions, and economic situation. Israel precisely attacked pre emptively, to PREVENT the arab states from developing a huge an capable military. Israel is fueling conflicts all over the middle east, in every country, because instability in their neighbouring countries will prevent them, to focus on Israel. The material and economic conditions to build a capable army cannot develop in the arab countries thanks to this israely/western policy.

[@srelma]

I really can't see any scenario where NATO or other Western alliance would attack with an attempt to conquer the Russian heartland. Not only would they get nuked, but even if you ignore nukes, what would they gain with such an attack? The only reason for NATO to do that would be that it would eliminate once and for all the Russian threat to Europe. If Russia behaved like a normal civilized country, NATO would have no reason to do that. The wealth of nations doesn't come from conquered land or subjugated neighbouring nations, but from the work of the people. Finnish-Russian border has one of the biggest drops in GDP/capita in the world. The reason is not that Finland has a lot of conquered land, natural resources and Russia doesn't, quite the opposite. The reason is that the Finns have a more developed society based on liberal democracy and the rule of law, while Russia is a kleptocracy.

[@lukasgaizauskas1127]

Indeed, this supposed security threat to Russia is just a baloney excuse for Russian chauvinism

[@logannicholson1850]

Currently there is no reason but in the long run Russia has 1 last card, her natural resources. Those are invaluable especially to the economies of the first world

[@srelma]

@@logannicholson1850 that's the false thinking. Just look at Iraq war. It cost 3 trillion dollars to the US economy and they still didn't secure the oil to themselves. Trying to do anything similar in Russia would cost many times more and would give very small economic benefits. It's much much cheaper to just buy those resources on the world market than to try to conquer and hold them.

[@ronnynoneofyourbusinessgoo7892]

@@srelma Exactly. Also, the EU is just going to speed up going to renewables. Russia won't get to sell all that stuff, because civilizations will be running on renewables and hydrogen before they can and they'll remain a 3rd world country

[@logannicholson1850]

@@srelma I mean maybe not holding those resources but denying them to another adversary like Iran or China would be huge

[@natmaren989]

Adding to this analysis is the fact that Putin only takes a few geopolitical players seriously. Russia, USA, China. He considers all other countries not subjects, but objects on the geopolitical chessboard. And some countries, like Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus or the Baltic countries, Putin considers an integral part of Russia. Their sovereignty from Putin's point of view is a misunderstanding. He does not even believe in the existence of such peoples, as Hitler considered some countries to be part of Germany. Therefore, Putin believes that the independence of Ukraine is a vicious political game of the United States against Russia. He does not believe that the people of Ukraine can decide their own destiny.

[@DemonicGoat117]

Germany was literally split up to make it weaker and deprive them of geopolitical power in the 20th century. Countries like Czechoslovakia were created just to create ethnic tension among the Germans and Slavs in addition to crippling the German Empire's stranglehold over Central Europe. The German Empire scared the shit out of everyone and they made sure to try and crush them with the Treaty of Versailles so countries like France and England could "maintain dominance" in Europe. The mistreatment of Germany and the German people as well as the dismantling of German territory not only created Hitler and the Nazis but gave them the excuse to pick a fight with the rest of Europe after decades of having their face shoved into shit. Remeber the whole Danzig thing? Yeah Germans weren't too fucking happy about having their families split up and their borders carved up like that, thus giving Hitler the excuse to take the entirety of Poland in the eyes of the German people. They are not the boogeyman because they were irrational comic book villains disregarding the soveireignty of other nations despite what your high school textbooks tell you, they are the boogeyman because it's a glimpse at what happens when you stick a nations face in the dirt and spend decades unfairly antagonising them, much like Russia. It's what happens when the bullied kid finally grows a pair and shoots up your schools then you start crying and asking for guns to be banned completely forgetting the conditions that created such an atrocity (don't you dare accuse me of being an amerifat making a pro gun argument just to derail this). In other words, stick ya fucking noses out of other people's affairs and don't vilify what you are incapable of understanding otherwise you end up with the deaths of millions. It boggles my mind that we still haven't figured this out in the 21st century.

[@DemonicGoat117]

Additionally, I would like to add western russophobia is nothing new and goes back centuries. This is nothing new under the sun which now sets on the British empire.

[@user-mw6ec3wh2e]

Опять спорный момент. Ежели брать население Новой Руси на Украине, то там в большинстве живут русские. Коль брать Галичину и Волынь, то там в чистом в виде проживают украинцы. А Малую Русь я ещё не исследовал. Возможно, русские навсегда потеряли самое сердце русского мира.

[@muntee33]

I thought it was about having no choice but to take action to defend its borders and economy from an advancing economic and political opponent. No one seems to mention how the U.S. was ramping up n building forces in the region over the last few years. If Russia was doing the same on the other side of CUBA and coercing it to join it's military alliance, giving it direct access and control of geography along Americas boarder, then America would respond in the same manner or more likely, in a much more aggressive manner. Notice how U.S. seems to perceive it has the authority to provoke such a conflict then wholeheartedly support the nation Russia is undertaking military operations in, but then when the U.S. other political/economic opponent indicates its intentions to support Russia, the U.S. threatens it with sanctions. This U.S. needs to remember it is not the world government and/or police. Imagine Russia bombed a US major resource infrastructure, IN THE US... WWIII would already have kicked off.

[@capitalistdingo]

“Russia believes it must be a world power or… there will be no Russia” Russia proceeds to do everything it can to make people okay with that possibility.

[@gristlybillow7050]

sounds a bit similar to "A thousand year reich or nothing" no?

[@gristlybillow7050]

@Hannibal Sulla where in either comment do we mention "the west"? Shhhhhh, your betters are talking

[@dimanoma416]

and people being okay with that means people will no longer exist

[@alwaysdisputin9930]

@@gristlybillow7050 WhAt aBOut MAnChEsTeR cIty?

[@Didntwanttomakeauser]

We accept option 2

[@kamilnowakowski3917]

There is huge problem with heartland theory Namely : it is falsified by history. Tsarist Russia controlled Finland, occupied Poland as Kraj Privislanski and had borders with Germany. It entirely collapsed in WW1 , it was humilated before in 1905 and Crimean War USSR also controlled the heartland. Satelite states reached as far as Eastern Germany. It failed on numerous occasions and collapsed in 1991 Another problem with russian military border perspective is....nobody unprovoked would decide to attack them. People may have fantasies obviously, but at the end of the day they are nuclear power with 140 mln people and really inhospitable inland. Hell, due to nukes nobody wants to attack Nort Korea despite North Korea having gdp of one rotten carrot and size of one russian obvod. If other countries were such paranoic , then France would announce Maginot Line 2 at german border and US would create Great Anti-Canadian wall.

[@george9057]

Yeah ever since I’ve heard about this theory I thought it might be a little pseudo-scientific. Geography is a strong determiner of geopolitics but the people also play a huge factor in shaping those geopolitics. What allowed for the hegemon status of the US for example in geographical terms is its isolation from the European powers with the ocean, which allowed it to grow by its own. And it’s weak neighbors to the west as it proceeded with its policy of manifest destiny to have a massive and resource rich country. Latin America has nearly the same geographical conditions for super power nations. Why aren’t they super powers? Because the Spanish cast Systems and style of colonization was very different to the British, forcing North America and South America to develop completely separate Spheres of power. So humans play a massive factor in geopolitics, geography is not everything. And the Russians haven’t quite learned that lesson yet.

[@user-cx9nc4pj8w]

It's not so much about being falsified by history as being irrelevant today.

[@chopperaxon6171]

Hahahaha. Love your perspective mate. Largely based in fact though.

[@Maxatal]

I think the heartland theory is made to show that a power in that heartland is most suited to control Eurasia, not destined to. A state that had the borders of USSR could probably have dominance over Eurasia if it had an educated population with a corruption-free government, and obviously be developed.

[@juch3]

You need to also remember the theory was proposed by a man who thought pax Britannica was waning due to "disintegration and decay associated with international capitalism" and because the weakness shown by the British in the Boer war, had he waited until 1905 after the Russian defeat from the Japanese, he might have revised his theory or probably not publish it at all.

[@John_Connor556]

Most astute breakdown of the situation & the strategy & mindset behind why Russia invaded in first place (beyond the obvious Western influence that has been in Ukraine since late 2000's) 👏👏

[@md.habibullahkhan9311]

This is by far the most illustrative video on this war. I'm so impressed by the breakdowns of such big event. No doubt, a lot has been learnt. You just earned a big fan, Shivan. ❤️

[@buzz_is_here]

it's wild that Russia chose this way of "securing" their future against NATO. A much better solution in my eyes is having friendly relationship with the neighboring countries. You can't build security by attacking your neighbors.

[@northman9191]

They tried that already, then there was the western backed coup in 2014.

[@jacobjorgenson9285]

You should hear Putins 2007 Munich speech. He tried but the west/America, will not tolerate a multipolar world. Now America will fight Russia until the last Ukrainian and the last Euro. Now the multipolar world has been forced upon America. Look up John Mearsheimer

[@the_merc9918]

I mean Russia has tried living in peace and friendly relationships over the last 30y and see how that has worked. Nato is like “ah don’t worry, we come in peace” - then keeps expanding, weaponizes all the countries bordering Russia, places all kinda of measures to sanction economically, etc. One of the bigges weapons the West has, is to lie. To say one thing, and do the opposite

[@Kaybossboi]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGmvqqKJbNGGabM

[@joecawcutt271]

That is indeed a better solution, but then you have to ask if ‘security’ IS the only goal in mind for Russian policy makers. At the start of the video he notes how the political elite still adhere to the central Earth Island consensus which would promise them more power… Power and ‘security’ go hand in hand

[@stuartmunro2474]

Although heartland theory may flatter the egos of the Russian inner circle, the recent gas finds in the Donbas cannot be discounted as a casus belli.

[@willnill7946]

Well, since 2014 why have the Ukrainians been performing ethnic cleaning in that area?

[@WorthlessWinner]

IIRC the gas fields were discovered immediately before the 2014 'revolution.' I think this whole thing is a fight over gas, by both sides.

[@Nickle314]

The big one was a warm weather sea port for its navy. It's backfired. It's ships are now stuck in the black sea. They can't get out because Turkey is part of NATO and that means going through NATO waters. Sweden is now looking to join NATO. That means no exiting the Baltic sea. When Finland joins, then the St Petersburg ports are shut off from the Baltic. I major miscalculation by Putin.

[@mormacil]

Heartland Theory is flawed, it assumes rail can compete with shipping in mobility. This hasn't happened at all. Modern technology superceded it.

[@awannagannaful]

LOL... yeah.. because the last thing Russia needs is even more gas LOL. They are short of pipelines and the funds to develop more infrastructure and sea lanes to export, not the raw materials my friend.

[@user-bu1wi9xx6c]

You've completely missed the mark here. I was expecting insights from a Russian angle, but all I got was a British spin. Talk about misleading! The claim at 11:00 is the peak of inaccuracy in this video. Seriously, the idea of Russia attacking Poland? We both know that's not going to happen.

[@MrDragon1968]

Kind of funny that this video proves that Russia is actually the biggest imperialist - pro-empire - country on the planet today. All these complaints about ex-empire 'western' countries being 'imperialist' when they've mostly long moved on from their past; yet it's Russia that's still living in it's history of empire and aggressively trying to revive it in the 21st century. Btw NATO hasn't been 'pushing' to the East. It's the 'east' (ex-Soviet bloc countries) that have been pushing to be a part of the west: ie actively asserting to join NATO and the EU. There's a reason why they've spent the last 20 years doing it. It's playing out in Ukraine right now.

[@zinnsoldat6493]

Realtime events shows that if Ukraine was in NATO before 24th of February,russians wouldn't dare to start this war.

[@MrDragon1968]

@@zinnsoldat6493 Probably, although it's unlikely that Ukraine could join NATO after 2014. Or would have been very complicated to do.

[@swedichboy1000]

2:51 to skip ads.

[@wifi_soldier5076]

thank you 😊

[@LegoEddy]

What always makes me feel uneasy in taking this geopolitical perspective is that it takes the super-bird view across centuries and nations. And from that high-level, the value of an individual human life diminishes.

[@farzana6676]

You think Putin values human life?

[@ReservoirThing]

the values of the whole nation (as Ukrainians) diminish, left alone an individual human life

[@ARN012]

Thats the harsh reality. Citizens are simply cells in the organizam that is the nation.

[@meilinchan7314]

Yes it does, but it also explains a good deal of China's surprisingly conciliatory moves toward Ukraine.

[@michaelhaykal6548]

That is one of the characteristics of traditional International Relations (IR) theories from the 20th century. However, contemporary IR Theories are increasingly trying to incorporate more human elements, and to shift the focus from nation-states.

[@Skawagon]

The interesting thing is that for better part of fivety years, the soviet union was, either directly or indirectly in control of all those resources and land and yet the union had to resort to burte force on several occasions to hold its deržavy together and failed to provide for its own citizens, collapsing in the end. If a new "superstate" is to be formed in this space, the people with former bitter experience will protest it even stronger than before, thus the new union will have to resort to a terror even greater than durring the times of Stalin. This new wave of injustice will once again cement the fate of the new union and send it to further economic decay. So in the long run Russia is destined to fail again.

[@hp2084]

Popular vote was not to dissolve the union but to make constituent states more autonomous. However, Gorbachev was bribed with money and nobel peace prize to dissolve the union.

[@eingew]

@@hp2084 The republics joining the EU prove him right.

[@Iv4Bez]

You should see the map ot the Russian Empire. Its much more than 50 years...

[@anthonygray400]

The main point should be, that Russia failed diplomatic and economic ways to expand their influence on Baltic countries, Moldova and Ukraine. Nato managed expand so far in Eastern Europe without using any military forces and ultimatums. It’s not correct saying that “NATO expand”. The truth is that Baltic countries and Poland wanted to join Nato and EU so eagerly, because they were just hostages of moscowian rule. They were bullied for centuries by moscow. They just did want to live better and not worry about future of their nation, their language and culture etc

[@UkraineJames2000]

Bingo. To say NATO expanded kinda implies that it strong armed its way into Eastern Europe, when those countries who wanted to join did it willingly out of necessity to defend from their neighbour.

[@OryxAU]

NATO also allows them to spend less on defense while still having the high budget programs that are out of reach of smaller countries allowing them to focus more on economy and social aspects. It's an easy choice if you wish to develop an economy in the region.

[@markokovac603]

Waou, very peacefull image for someone who also conquired Russia once in hystory (Polan-Lithuanian Comonwelt)...

[@anthonygray400]

@@markokovac603 1 time vs 10 times from moscow. And the point is, that today’s Poland and Lithuania don’t seek territorial expansion and other nations oppression. Today’s expansion ways are economic and cultural for civilized countries. So there wasn’t any NATO expansion to the Eastern Europe. It’s Eastern Europian countries wanted to join NATO so they wouldn’t conquered by moscow. It’s strange that I need to explain the same idea twice…

[@castbreeder]

@@anthonygray400 Yes, countries literally run to NATO when a puppet leader appears at the head of these states

[@lancelessard2491]

Seeing the rest of the world as an enemy is a self fulfilling prophecy.

[@asitallfallsdown5914]

Except for the fact that they're right, NATO was explicitly established to oppose Russia and now it's on their doorstep wanting to put cruise missiles in their back yard. It's more serious to Russia than the Cuban Missile Crisis was to America. And "The rest of the world" is a cope, they have their allies. They just see the Western world as its enemy, because it is.

[@lancelessard2491]

@@asitallfallsdown5914 NATO was established not to oppose, but to defend. It is an alliance designed to defend its members, not make territorial conquest. It is not a sovereign government. It is a defensive alliance. Russia is in the process of trying to make territorial conquest of Ukraine. Putin said point blank that he doesn't see Ukraine as a legitimate nation deserving of its existence. Putin is a Russian imperialist. NATO holds no territory. It is an alliance.

[@SianaGearz]

@@lancelessard2491 but NATO is governed by its constituent states. The heavyweight in NATO is USA and after Jugoslavia, Russia thinks NATO will be compelled to do anything USA wants of it. Which is probably not fair, USA went many military invasions alone and was never arsed to ask NATO or UN or anyone else. A plausible if constructed scenario is that one country could cause a provocation, a false flag operation, to invoke Article 5 and have NATO attack Russia united. After all, who other than Russia would know all about false flag operations eh?

[@Antares-vj7su]

You just described Islam

[@targe4070]

@@lancelessard2491 NATO is to defense? tell me what NATO defense in Balkan? What did it defense in Libya? What did it defense in Afghanistan? What did it do in Somalia and Yemen? The only thing I can think that it defense, is military industrial complex.

[@simonolson7102]

I have doubts about this guy actually playing RAID Shadow legends. At least any more than he is paid to do.

[@just1it1moko]

none of these sponsorships ever play the game. its a shit game built like a fruit slot machine.

[@cenkbahar2908]

Haha RAID fanboys triggered

[@blackmatca6277]

He said he's playing for a while, that can mean a week. This is a geo political chanel nerd boy

[@nettleleaves8224]

Mans gotta get paid and I respect that

[@fireiceuk9221]

You actually watch the sponsorship segments on videos? You can simply use the preview on the timeline to skip it.

[@jenniferfar]

thank you for creating and posting this!

[@DaDevil1983]

Just found your channel and I’ve got to say I love it! It is very strategically sound and have yet to find a channel to compare it to.

[@rejvenblack5934]

Nice video to watch, especially for international relations student. However, as a Ukrainian I could say that this war is not just about rebulding of the soviet era world oder. Russia has lack of soft power, it can manipulate other countries only by gas prices and threats of military intervention to them. While its internal system remains corrupted authoritarien and, as a result, absolutely inattractive for other states. At the same time Ukraine in a long run can become a democratic and powerful country which would show that this is possible even for post-soviet countries. That is why this war is so meaningful for Russia. The core of the problem is not safetines. No one in the whole world will attack the country wuith the largest nuclear weapon!!! If you don't believe me you can watch the comment of Peskov (Putin's secretary) about the Finland's possible accession to the NATO. They don't see it as a threat. But the development of Ukraine as a democratic state is absolutely other case

[@willnill7946]

We threatened war if missiles were put on Cuba, I don’t blame Russia for standing up. Let’s not forget about the us coup, and the Ukrainians ethnic cleansing in the east

[@ralfanari8854]

@@willnill7946 Who is putting missiles in ukraine? Well Russia is exploding them on civilians, but other than that? Go home Kremlin troll, take your meds.

[@dylanvogler2165]

@@willnill7946 lol you watch to much Kremlin propaganda. The Russians are doing the ethnic cleansing now. I really can't grasp how an "American" could support a facist state to be honest. because yes Russia is a facist state.

[@sarah07290]

@@willnill7946 the "coup" was a democratic, popular protest and there was no "ethnic cleansing" in the East, you dimwit.

[@jebipasadegene]

@@willnill7946 correct american friend

[@madisi98]

You can feel the guy is having the time of his life making this content. Very appreciate it, keep up the good work!!

[@vajmong]

Fake theory. He’s trying to create a theory for Russian invasion. It’s caused by Putin, not this theory.

[@user-kt3of9xv4o]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6e8pIamf65mkLM

[@0532phillipjoy]

Well it's damn good. It makes sense of the entire history of Imperial Russia to the present.

[@arturturkevych3816]

Except that now the geography argument is simply wrong due to the existence of nukes. Noone will ever attack them so it makes no difference if it's 600 or 2000km border.

[@laxmii9732]

Why that? kzbin.infoWyS5KAMMTx8?feature=share

[@odriew5014]

I'm not a fan of one country invading another, but what I find even more concerning is a major country forcefully taking it's neighbors territory. When was the last time a major country used it's military to expand it's borders? Certainly the US hasn't done so in may years. If Russia succeeds in taking territory from the Ukraine like this, then it's going to set a very bad precedent, and will lead to many more conflicts world wide.

[@mbahremuk]

Israel, Armenia (NK is internationally-recognized as Azerbaijan's), and Russia It gets worse because Russia recognized Ukraine's territorial integrity in a very explicit manner in Budapest.

[@Foxeqq]

You was not so afraid of bad precedent than bombing Serbia and takin off Kosovo, for sure.

[@Foxeqq]

@mj is goat And how that fact can help hundreds of childrens who died cuz of nato bombing? Its already done, like it or not, but world is not the same after that.

[@hungrymusicwolf]

​@@Foxeqq Plenty of people die from bombing all around the world. Nobody likes it. But it isn't a precedent that can set off a chain reaction of wars as more dictators realize they can just take their neighbors territory as UN and NATO are busy. If we act strongly here, many wars can be prevented. If we complain about how X bad thing happened elsewhere so really it is NATO's fault and we shouldn't destroy Russians army over it, then we might just end up in a serious political problem.

[@chuckarama451]

@CaspianReport - I'm curious about the Lukashenko map and Odess->Maldova. I'm struggling to find that broadcast. Do you have a good reference/source you can share?

[@oldschoolben438]

In other words, if NATO didn't expand, Russia would have invaded at least 3 other countries already.

[@Merugaf]

@ConfusedOilPainter x) "we join nato but the US must leave and also we get to be the biggest very special boy".

[@ish8891]

NATO expansion increases Russian insecurity

[@maybeasinner8007]

@ConfusedOilPainter Believe me, they would. And another thing is, Russia and west, these two words cannot come together. They're like the same pole of a magnet, they always defect each other no matter the situation.

[@iii2183]

@@Merugaf Prob the other way round tbh lol, US doesn't want russia in Nato.

[@tttt-fh5ex]

Ukrainian Nazi "Azov"(they wear swastika, if you noticed) has been bombing Donbass people (Russian speaking Ukrainians) for 8! years. Check out :"Donbass" 2016 by Anne Laure Bonnel, "Ukraine on fire" by Oliver Stone, Graham Phillips', Patrick Lancaster's old and new reportages from Donbass. Now Ukrainian Nazi "Azov" uses Ukrainians as human shield, you can watch interviews with ukrainians from Mariupol on Patrick Lancaster's channel. Why do think there's a monument for Stepan Bandera(nazist) in Lviv, Ukraine?

[@wokeaf1337]

Imagine RuZZia invading Ukraine to avoid sharing a long border with Nato while Finland joins Nato because of RuZZia's aggression, ending with a even longer border towards Nato for RuZZia *LMAO*

[@Roqu3Quinc0t]

yes but from the russian point of view Ukraine joining Nato is even worse because if Russia loses control over the volgograd gap means the destruction of the russian state and this will end in nuclear war (this is what the russian military doctrine says).. and also for Russia, Ukraine is the birth place of the first slavic state.. Russia watching Ukraine joining a military alliance with the west will be something similar muslims watching christians conquering Mecca and Medina.. by the way, I don't support Russia's war on Ukraine. I hope they fail.

[@cris_the_coder]

LMFAO Putin is NATO's number #1 recruiter

[@politycznyignorant]

Your comment seems to miss the mark on understanding the situation. I was looking forward to a Russian perspective, but it appears we're getting a British one instead. This doesn't match my expectations. At 11:00, there's a point I strongly disagree with. The idea of Russia attacking Poland seems far-fetched to me, and I believe you share this view. You just like to lie your audience.

[@MichaelPuzio]

Good point. Feed the masses all the viewpoints to ensure more clicks, subscriptions, etc. He provides clear analysis, but not necessarily the most likely ones in every video.

[@BuildandGrow21]

Fascinating and most informative I've seen. Bravo and thank you.

[@takashitamagawa5881]

Germany and Japan, both defeated in WWII, embarked on postwar pathways to become world powers on the international stage without asserting military control. The U.K., victorious in WWII, nonetheless gave up almost all of its overseas empire in the following decades as not being worth the cost of administration and defense. The Russians, more than three quarters of a century later, still don't see any other path other than conquest and subjugation of surrounding countries and are forcing their neighbors to build up defenses against them.

[@delmanpronto9374]

the uk found WMDs in iraq and hurriedly followed the US into war. it also hurriedly accompanied the US in its attempt to invade india again in 1971, only for russia with its expansionist agenda to come in their way and protect indian sovereignty and democracy. japan in the meanwhile handed over its defense over to the US, and allowed little to no immigration, and today faces a population collapse that threatens their future. japan and germany are beginning to invest in their defence again. you're right. russia has a lot to learn from japan, germany and the UK. great countries to learn from.

[@Caucasian_Shepherd]

Exactly. Well said.

[@brianclemons3979]

Russia defeated Germany all on their own so Russia should still be credited if it wasn’t for them the war would’ve lasted way longer or Germany might’ve won. But that doesn’t excuse what they are doing today but we should always remember they’re sacrifice in ww2

[@brianclemons3979]

Russia defeated Germany all on their own so Russia should still be credited if it wasn’t for them the war would’ve lasted way longer or Germany might’ve won. But that doesn’t excuse what they are doing today but we should always remember they’re sacrifice in ww2

[@hexcss9153]

@@brianclemons3979 Russia did not defeat Germany on its own… Even if the Soviets carried the bulwark in terms of ground forces and pushing it back, the Americans provided the tech needed to make the logistics of such victory possible. While the Soviets would have probably been able to develop it on their own, it would have taken much longer, and made the final result of the war uncertain. Also Britain kept a good portion of the German army pinned in the west and in Africa.

[@geraldmeehan8942]

If Russia would focus it's military more around air power instead of land power the neccessity of invading Ukraine would be much The west didn't have to force a single former Warsaw pact nation or former Soviet republic to desire membership in NATO and the EU. Putin has already driven formally neutral Finland and Sweden into the arms of NATO. Perhaps he should try to make life within the Russian sphere of influence more desirable than life in the west if he wants countries the align with Moscow?

[@imagomundiful]

Finland and Sweden have been neutral from different reasons. Finland has been forced to be neutral and is still traumatized by its proximity to Russia in its different forms.

[@ThePonsor911]

Putin is NATO’s number one recruiter lmao!

[@cris_the_coder]

@@ThePonsor911 FUCK YEAH MERICA

[@user-lz1yb6qk3f]

You are right. Totally right.

[@josephkush1032]

He wants ukraine to go back to how it was before the coup

[@Josway37]

The so-called "heartland theory" is just childishly declaring yourself to be the center of the universe and assuming everything is less! important the farther away from you it is.

[@dknelson]

I believe it all boils down to Russia’s leaders being in denial. Other former empires have crumbled, and though they had to bare some psychological pain, the people of Austria, Britain, and Turkey enjoy peaceful, fulfilling, and productive lives. Also in a way it’s an armed rejection of the modern world, which is largely “Western” and so is considered a threat.

[@mil3k]

For all non Slavic speakers, "siloviki" roughly means enforcers. Corrected.

[@dokfoto]

Siloviki, not silovniki. And it means people with connection to or are themselves from security structures, like military, police, KGB (FSB) and so on.

[@dervinmasquata6411]

More precisely, "Siloviki" people with connections to force structures that work in the government and represent the interests of these force structures.

[@EM-tx3ly]

Sounds like the "Mafia"

[@user-ci4yw7vh1d]

No it's fucking not, I'm imagined by people who think that they know something about Russia. Siloviki btw

[@nathanhiggers4606]

it's just cops

[@danculea7865]

If anything, the opposite of this"heartland" idea is true, the area identified as "heartland" is mostly barren land, barely suitable for human habitation whereas most the most fertile and productive places are centered around the edges, Europe and South-East Asia (China, India, Oceania).

[@mint8648]

It was more true in the past when horses were important

[@timothyswag3594]

It looks like they just selected a random area of land, drew something that vaguely resembled a human heart, and called it "the heartland." Oh, would you look at that? Russia just so happens to be in this area. How convenient!

[@fobusas]

Is that why russia and Ukraine are the biggest grain exporters in the world? Most of Oceania is water and then desert... My dude, you need some geography lessons. Heartland theory is bullshit, but what you wrote is bullshit as well

[@thechosenone1533]

The Heartland Theory is more because Central Asia and Russia can function as a route between the East and the West. The Old Silk Road passing through Central Asia functioned as a highway for trade and invasions between China, India,Persia,the Middle East and Europe.

[@fobusas]

@@thechosenone1533 Just because steppe highway existed before technology made it obsolete, doesn't make heartland theory viable, if it even was ever right. If anything, the opposite is true. Because of plains, no countries around the edge could have been secure, thus making a unified heartland nation impossible

[@rubenkarssen9671]

so informative! thank you, went really in depth starting with 3 world islands, and how to dominate and have significant influence in the world. keep u to good work

[@nickharvey65]

Great video - Like Britain had to after WW2, Russia has to adapt. Posturing and bullying is not the way forward and will inevitably end up in the destruction of Russia, or possibly the world.

[@mamindhive]

The difference is that the ones who will feel impact are always the citizens of Russia, the government don't care if it causes poverty or famine, their people have gotten used to be seen as robots and not humans and that's why russia will never last as a country, their demise is inevitable

[@raceris7309]

Perfect comparison to Britain!

[@cliffc2546]

And the delusions of lost grandeur seem way OTT when you consider that a country of 140 million or so people should control so much geography, with a government as was noted, based on kleptocracy, and with a rapid decline of population. This last move into UKR seems a desperate last gasp of revanchist Soviet nostalgia. Russia could have become a NATO member if it had been able to overcome its Soviet and czarist legacies, now fruiting in the form of Putin's regime. Always playing the victim of foreign aggression, the fact is that Russia went through centuries of aggressive expansion, east and west. The Russian people deserve better than the regime in charge now. Also, I think a plurality of the world's population are done with the great power games.

[@CheeseBae]

Putin and his orcs have a 20th century mentality. Their worldview is one of paranoia, extreme cynicism, and that geopolitics is a zero sum game. Russia could be a wealthy, safe, and prosperous country but they choose not to be. Perhaps they worry that a "has been" Russia would be treated by its neighbors how Russia treats them.

[@mamindhive]

@@CheeseBae perhaps America should have not got involved with the coup and elected governors in kiev and Ukraine, yes all of what you said is true, but usa made it a lot worse and Ukrainian people are paying the price with their lives

[@ZiggyBoon]

The fundamental problem with Russian geopolitics is that it has no allies. Russia's foreign policy is and always has been predicated on creating vassal states rather than building alliances. This is also China's fundamental geopolitical approach, vassals rather than allies. Which is to say the heartland theory ultimately bogus, because no country actually wants to be a vassal state as an expression of its national status. After the collapse of the USSR, that's why Eastern European countries joined NATO and the EU as fast as they could; they had the opportunity to break away from being vassal states to join alliances. The irony of Russia's assault on Ukraine is that it both makes more likely Russia becoming a vassal state of China and being locked out of a permanently hostile West.

[@mtn1793]

Very astute observation. Every attempt to bring Russia into alliance after the Soviet collapse should have been made. What a better world it could’ve been. Unfortunately republican cult greed precluded that. The Bush doctrine or similar went to their heads. Now we are still trapped in Cold War at a time when the global politic needs to unite more than ever with our species at risk.

[@AutisticCumsock]

Underrated comment 👍

[@kassixo]

This kind of also seems to be the reason they're taking the "genocidial" route "this time." To ensure that the people living in those countries they're invading, wont ever be able to claim back their land or at least not in the next century.

[@anhtuyettran2531]

I must disagree, NATO countries are no more than vassals of the U.S, the same way Russia is a vassal of China.

[@kurtwinslow9770]

Ziggy Boon, I think you are spot on.

[@kev492001]

Same excuse that Hitler made, we need someone else's land so we can make sure, we are safe. Russia was safe when they weren't attacking their neighbors, now Putin is sending young men to die, for no reason, instead of letting those young men build families, something Russia needs the most of, and would make everyone in Russia happier.

[@jokuvaan5175]

Yea. EU was getting ever more interconnected with Russia by economic means. Germany and other nations became dependent on Russian natural gas. Military spending was going down all across EU. Enemies about to invade don't really do that to their targets. It's better to make money than war. A tactic that has kept EU in peace during its existence. The military threat between EU nations is basically non existent

[@TheRuthlessEAZY]

He’s literally doing everything from hitlers playbook, even aggressively using symbology (z) to try rally everyone behind this

[@nunyabysnss9755]

As safe as the Iraqis and libyans

[@mitonaarea5856]

Honestly, Hitler wanted to expand because of Autarky, they had to expand if they didn´t their country would colapse

[@jcd776]

Europe deserves punishment from Russia for all its crimes and atrocities across the global south.

[@cmonman85]

The saddest thing about this is knowing that both most Russian people and most people of Ukraine want nothing to do with this. It's just the government systems. 🙏🏽 😣 🙏🏽 😣 🙏🏽

[@Schdcdd]

You're wrong. Most Russians support Putin.

[@troodon1096]

If the Russian people don't stand up against their government, it is no different than if they're standing with it.

[@zugabdu1]

I don't understand the "Heartland" theory. Why is that unpopulated chunk of tundra the "Heartland" instead of a place in China or India where, you know, people actually live?

[@sanghelian]

especially when historically that mediterranean longtitude belt seems to produce so many empires...

[@bluemountain4181]

@@brucewillixaspirinix9652 It's never been possible to establish hegemony over the whole World Island because of the geographic divides like the Himalayan mountains, Sahara desert and Red & Mediterranean seas. Sure sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent and European Plain are all part of the same landmass but they might as well be considered separate islands due to their geographic separation. All have better connections to each other by sea than they do by land.

[@philliporavec6121]

The idea of the "Heartland" theory is somewhat poorly explained in this video. The original idea was that Western Europe and Eastern Asia are the major economic powerhouses of the world ever since the Silk Road era. Every empire in Europe since has attempted to bridge the gap between the West and East, hence why Christopher Columbus set out in 1492. Today, we still see this is extremely relevant with China's Belt and Road plan with India even creating its own variant. As further evidence, just look at how hard the airline industry is being hit now that they can't use Russian airspace. Flights between Europe and East Asia are, in many cases, more than double in time and distance than before Russia's airspace was closed off. In essence, the country which controls the "Heartland" is the middleman which controls the trade between the two economic centers of human civilization.

[@appleislander8536]

Old British man spent too much time looking at maps

[@ericsuarez834]

Read Zbigniew Brzezinski the grand chessboard to understand

[@matejmencl1404]

I am amazed by the statement that " for Russia it's either expand or die". Think about the prosperity they would enjoy if they cooperated and traded with the West instead of engaging in this dick measuring contest. A vast country with a fuckton of natural resources, strong national identity and a decently sized population could, with the help of foreign investments, become disgustingly rich. Instead, Russian life expectancy, fertility rates, the amount of skilled and educated workers anxious to emigrate all paint the picture of a bitter, depressed country with no hope for a better future. They choose to reminisce about the good old days when they exploited and occupied at least 14 other nations instead of trying to build a better world by cooperating with others. A Russian would rather eat dirt and live in absolute poverty if he believes his nation is a "global power", which in his mind is having enough guns and missiles pointed at everyone around him.

[@wardgeys4175]

Well put sir! Imagine how much faster we could evolve and prosper (as a whole) if we could just cooperate with one another.

[@evryatis9231]

Except, it did happen. And the westerners kicked russia around, and it became poverty-striken, profitted-of, full of corruption, and the currency had insane inflation of several hundred %.. and your average russian was NOT rich. That stayed until putin seized power and reestablished control. Russia. Cannot. Trust. The west. I wouldnt either.

[@ivans3806]

I think Russia shares same problem as current US and Europe has, increasingly huge gap between top rich and the regular people. While Bezos/Mask could fund entire healthcare or schooling with their incomes, they choose differently. In Russia it's even more pronounced, with castles, and super-yachts of the top 0.001 percent of the population who suck the land of any wealth it produces, leaving only fumes for those who actually work and produce that wealth.

[@sitrueis4007]

You act like US don't do same thing. Cooperation? You mean domination, look how everyone suffer because of Germany greendeal bullshit. If you think that west is one peaceful island then grow up and get real.

[@martinforro5696]

@@ivans3806 Russian rich are vassals of the supreme ruler, western rich are businessmen. Western rich must cooperate with the poor to gain their riches (by providing attractive goods and services and employing them), russian rich must suck up to Putin. Completely different circumstances.

[@killerbeanvoodulstnr]

I would say that Russia thinking about defending itself argument was significantly damaged by the recent events like Russia inability to prevent Ukrainian backed incursions into Belgorod region, as well as Russia pulling troops from Finland border to send into Ukraine. If Russia was so concerned about NATO invading they would have reacted to Finland joining Nato at least by bolstering their forces on the border but not by pulling everything into Ukraine. I believe that "we need to defend ourself from NATO/Ukraine/Georgia/Moldova etc" is no more than an excuse and never an actual thought that is seriously considered by Russia.

[@MyGamerFUZE]

There is a difference between the Finland and Ukraine situation though. The Ukrainian border is strategically more vulnerable than Finland's. Ukraine has also been close to Russia both recently and historically whereas although Finland was temporarily part of the Russian Empire, it was short lived and they are culturally very distinct/closer to the other Scandinavian countries. Lastly, I don't think Russia fears an imminent invasion by NATO necessarily the Russian government needs to think of security and plan strategically and long term. NATO is inherently an anti Russia alliance, having that on your most vulnerable border is not acceptable from a Russia perspective. Look at how the US reacted to Cuba. First trying an invasion/coup, attempting assassination, then settling on making sure Cuba will never be a powerful economic force through brutal and in my opinion unlawful sanctions. I think the issue could have been solved with diplomacy but considering the very weak reasons the US and NATO have used to invade other nations, it's hypocritical to criticize Russia's decision to use force.

[@Overlord_official.]

Russia still has the Imperialism it had under the Tsar and communist dictatorship. How can't it change?

[@BotanixB]

And so Russia wastes completely soft power potential he could get by playing low-key and developing itself.

[@BotanixB]

@Cu6upckuû Yes, Russian elite spend moneys on yachts instead engineers salary and infrastructure in result of Western plots.

[@logannicholson1850]

Russia can’t gain soft power, she isn’t economically integrated like China, she lacks the technology to compete with the west, she lacks a system of allied nations that she can actively work with to improve herself. Her only card is raw resources something which is rather low in terms of cards in nations hands

[@freethinker8603]

every thought that maybe China is using Russia?

[@maxxrr7389]

@@freethinker8603 they're using each other so does most Nation in each organization.

[@manooxi327]

Spending too much in defence due to bad geography I suggest u rewatch the vid 🙏

[@tuams]

As a Latvian myself, can say that we were expecting something like this to happen. It is always in the back of our minds. What does surprise us is that no matter where the world is going, Russia always seems very archaic in its thinking. It is also well represented in the people that live on our land and think it is theirs. Its paranoia is a sickness causing a lot of unnecessary suffering for people around Russia and russian people as well. One thing to remember is exactly what was said - if they won't succeed this time, they will try again. And that is the most exhausting aspect - their stubbornness. I hope that we come out from this stronger together as people!

[@LuvBorderCollies]

Russia has a long history of warfare with its neighbors in all directions, as in centuries. Its leaders have a mental illness and paranoia about other countries, but there is a good cure for this disease....STOP threatening and invading other countries. Nobody in their right mind wants anything in Russia. Even Napoleon was not interested in conquering Russia itself but to force the czar to break relations with Britain. Same goes for Chy-na. There is nothing in Chy-na except horribly polluted land, polluted water because the Communist Party turned Chy-na into a toxic waste dump. Nobody wants to attack or invade Chy-na. But Chy-na wants the land that Russia stole from them in 1850's, including Vladivostok.

[@hanooi7450]

Well, demography is working against them. Their population is falling and they be lucky to keep what they have.

[@barraspaziatrice7816]

I think you described the Russian mentality perfectly. It's such an unfortunate situation, they could be a prosperous and wealthy country but no, they had to throw away everything in the name of a glorious past that doesn't exist anymore. And good that you latvians are part of NATO. I couldn't imagine the terror you would live in right now if you wouldn't have joined. Whatever happens after Ukraine, if the Baltics go down we will all go down. No one can be left behind in this times.

[@TotalRookie_LV]

@@hanooi7450 "Fun" fact - the demographic structure of Russia still bears scars from WWII - around every 25 years (one generation) there is a drop in number of people - fewer people were born during the war and many died, not leaving any descendants. Currently this dent in demographics among younger people is in ages 22-24 - pretty much in the middle of the conscription age (18-27 in Russia), so if Putin wanted to deal maximum damage to Russian population, now was the time to do that, and *he did.* Actually he did that for the second time - before that there was Second Chechen war approximately one generation ago.

[@TotalRookie_LV]

Kremlin wanted to be the #1 at least at something, unfortunately (for them, not us) they are only good at failing.

[@phuet514]

Very informative and objective, although depressing. What could be the consequences of the Ukraine war on the internal dynamics of the Russian federation? That would be an interesting analysis.

[@sakaue]

bruh i remember when i was 5 and some guy was talking about russia and i was like "is russia a part of nato?"

[@coreytillman3237]

Gotta say, I'm a huge fan of the new intro. Really glad to see this channel getting bigger and better with every release!

[@ozonass]

I like Caspian Report, but this video is somehow stupid. Maybe this video should show how stupid is russian propaganda? Few propaganda facts depicted in video that are false in real life: 1)SovietUnion for most of the time was economic and scientific joke, not superpower, that's why it collapsed on itself. 2) Heartland theory is outdated 3)Assumptions about NATO plans to attack Russia are stupid and based on nothing. When was the last time, when democratic west Europe attacked Russia? Arrows showing France and Germany on attack to Russia is so cringe, that it looks like some kind of joke. Maybe this video supposed to show how stupid Russian propaganda is? You want to really know what drives Pootin in to military adventures. It is very practical reason - with military adventures Pootins approval inside Russia rises each time, and he can take spotlight out of real issues, economics, corruption etc. Steal inside the state, while populus is busy with "outside enemies".

[@chance2716]

As a long time subscriber and an Estonian - this is your best & most important video to date. This is literally what it's all about.

[@stianharketaetojaetaetaeta651]

Woud you also find this video amazing if you where a russian? Just wondering

[@jirislavicek9954]

And therefore Russia should never win! Glory to Ukraine 🇺🇦

[@stianharketaetojaetaetaeta651]

Replace "russian" with "estonian" and see what you feel

[@TheGraemi]

Na, only to Putin and his goons.

[@wilhelmbittrich88]

@@jirislavicek9954 Ukraine is a poor, and very corrupt country. It deserves no glory.

[@Tom-ef1mz]

Imagine watching the shift of geopolitics happening before your very eyes, only to get hit by a RSL sponsorship.

[@WolfpackPodcastOfficial]

What you said in the intro reminded me of a quote from a certain Austrian man called Adolf: "Germany will either be a world power or will not be at all." We all know how that ended up.

[@DoctorCyan]

It is scary to see illustrated how insecure the Russian state truly is. The hungriest dog is the most ferocious fighter. Excellent video as always Shirvan!

[@michaelkovacic2608]

Lol Russia has no teeth. They simply do not have the military power to compete with Europe, let alone NATO. How do you expect them to take over Poland and the Baltics when they cannot even take Kiev because of their shitty logistics?

[@cris_the_coder]

Well put.

[@marcussoininen2084]

Except this dog is old, decrepit and toothless.

[@menna7927]

8000 nukes and yet they are still insecure. That's the "mysterious russian soul" for you.

[@ronnynoneofyourbusinessgoo7892]

They seem way more more insecure to the East. But no one would ever attack them anyway on their land anyway, while the have all these nukes. It's all just propaganda to play empire. At this point, they deserve to be broken up. I say this as a German, as we deserved it after WWII. They brought it upon themselves if they collapse

[@Duck-wc9de]

Russia: " I feel that Im being threatened" All nations that border Russia: "Do you? really?!"

[@Naeinsengimnida]

Murica : " I feel that Im being threatened, let's overthrow every governments we don't like"

[@opinion4755]

Did you know that despite 7000 nuclear warheads Russia is victimised like no other country? And there are nazies under every rock everywhere? You maybe wonder who put them there or who's fault is absolutely everything? Yes! It is the CIA working day and night to undermine the glory and prosperity of Russia. Bastards!

[@UPPERKEES]

If you have to choose between Russia or the west, what would you choose? Exactly, like everyone, Russia is not your first pick. People pick prosperity, liberty and security. You find that in the west, not the east. And please don't fool yourself to think it's any other way. The refugees are not going to Russia either.

[@stevenmike1878]

@@UPPERKEES funny how europe actually stopped waring and killing eachother like it did for thousands of years. they finally learned to just work on there own countries and admire the others for there unique qualities. so America and NATO by far won. funny how the Baltic states ran away from Russia, and all want to join NATO and Europe.

[@kirilyakovlev6024]

@@Naeinsengimnida does the US annex territories of the neighbour countries?

[@thomask5038]

Bold move Cotton. Trying to reduce a 2000km border with NATO down to 600km. But, when (seems only a matter of time now, thanks to Russian aggression) Finland joins NATO, it's 1300km border with Russia gets added. And Then Russia is back where they started: a 2000km border with NATO to defend, except with substantial material, economic, military, and geopolitical capital expended to get there.

[@fwfeo]

These are your opinions not facts. You’re assigning intent and assume knowing the thinking of the Russian leaders. That’s not Russian POV, but your assumption of what they’re thinking! Big difference!!

[@cz1589]

Now Finland will determine Nato membership coming weeks. Well, that would add a long border. Also, both Russia and China are sitting on a time bomb of democraphic aging. Its now or never, to draft enough cannon fodder for wars. It has a very small political elite as well, and the educational setup last decades causes a brain drain, even without people fleeing abroad. They also lack the skills to maintain or expand their mining operations, and the Chinese also suck at that, so cant help. Western companies can do, but are leaving. New pipelines to China also take ten years to build, that is a very long time in the current Russian situation. Reality kicks in and she is a bitch for mother Russia. The only feasible good outcome is a grand paradigm shift in thinking, stopping imperial fantasies and such political masturbation. If you cant beat them, you can nuke them or join them. So, a reformed Russia can only survive and thrive as a member of the EU, due to its large European population. For security, it needs allies. Beside Nato, only China can do so, but it might consider Russia an increasing liability : less gain, more pain. Its an autocratic, selfish ally in the end, feels no moral obligations to the Russian people, when it hampers Chinese ambitions. If Russia sells its soul to the dragon and devil, it looses any chance for souvereign development.

[@mikevarga6742]

And that'll be the day Pori feels the power of nuclear energy..keep pushing that man into a corner..he will strike..freaking nato is crap anyhow. 2 natos countries are ready to war with the nation with 2nd largest nato military . And the whole west is at an economic war with that same nato nation.

[@ivansmirnov7342]

Russia’s only true allies are its army and its fleet. Also Serbia.

[@kljajabgd]

China has an aging population? China? The 2 Billion people China where they actually had to ban people from having more then one child China?

[@CoraxCorvus]

I agree that if Finland ends up joining NATO its going to end up becoming a major hurdle for Russia one way or another. I hold a believe that the West has since the collapse of the Soviet Union tried to decrease the status of "black sheep" of Europe that Russia has had, expecially since in the world that we live in today economicaly we all benefitt from having good relations. However I think Russia has miscalculated what its long reach can achieve, and in turn has thrown down the drain most of the progress it had done diplomaticaly expecially with European countries. Its a sad day where we are forced to watch the return to the simple idea that "might is right".

[@guidobolke5618]

@@kljajabgd Exactly that, they enforced a 1 child policy. A reproduction rate of 1. Which means they are halved every generation. Russia has around 1^.1. China has the same demographic issues as most developed countries.

[@gabrieleporru4443]

The fell of Soviet Union was a traumatic and sudden event and the U.S. diplomats were right in being afraid of its collapse But nonetheless, that's how history goes, frequently

[@chrism9356]

Excellent content, great job!

[@gilianstaelen3087]

A very interesting video. As someone who's into both history and worldpolitics, you really laid a good connection between the historical russian westwards expansion and the modern invasion of Ukraine.

[@alexanderf1182]

What kind of invasion of Ukraine? Don't you know that it was Ukraine that wanted to attack Crimea, and Russia only warned this attack? Russia is being demonized in order to find in it the image of an enemy to solve the political problems of creating a world government. Europeans are used like fools: they destroy the economy of the European Union, putting digital collars on them will turn them into obedient hamsters, after which they will be devoured

[@f-86zoomer37]

What’s so good about that huh??? Are you being an apologist for war crimes and invasion of sovereign territory, along with rape, massacre, and genocide? You must be another Kremlin Putin bot. Reported.

[@HORDE36]

Russia’s collapsing demography also gives them a short timeline. They need to reduce the entry gaps so they can control it with a smaller military (which they will inevitably have in the future.)

[@krasavchik8714]

In a totalitarian country demography is not a huge issue. They could simply order their people to reproduce for the government or else…. Especially now that a single woman with a scientific involvement can deliver 3-4 kids per one child delivery. So in that case it can become a simple business for most people. Deliver more, live better. Poverty driving people to do things they were not expecting themselves to do.

[@esathegreat]

they can build robot soldiers

[@you-know-who5657]

@@krasavchik8714 russia is not fully totalitarian,it is an autocracy. if russia did something like that people would revolt and protest

[@RK-cj4oc]

@@krasavchik8714 No country can do that at all.

[@krasavchik8714]

@@RK-cj4oc If no country tried, it doesn’t mean it is impossible. Extreme poverty and total prosecution is a tool to make anything possible

[@waqassso]

there is one thing worth mentioning - "siloviki" are not necessary the elite, they are the whole military and police manhood

[@rickjames6133]

This is the first time hearing this view and I commend the production of this video which explains in such a detailed interesting way.

[@LucasDimoveo]

To what extent does nuclear weapons affect a potential ground invasion? It seems that Russia's "mountains" are it's nukes

[@drmodestoesq]

And the fact that no one in their right mind would invade Russia today. Well, you say, Putin is invading Ukraine. So that's congruent with the same strategic vision. Yeah....I said "no one in their right mind."

[@mint8648]

It doesn’t. No one would actually destroy the world because your nation starts losing. Wars between nuclear powers have already been fought in kargil between india and pakistan

[@sushizinger4530]

Nukes are mainly for deterrence against other nuclear powers from nuking Russia. Using it against Nato is just as good as nuking themselves.

[@arty5876]

Putin is trying to say that Russia had invaded Ukraine, because Ukraine wanted to join NATO, and NATO is threating Russia. NATO isn't threating Russia - both sides have nukes. If the war between Russia and NATO would start, this would be the shortest war in history, and both NATO and Russia's armies wouldn't have any opportunities to use their positions, such as a cotrolled by someone Ukraine... Russia don't need expansion, and Russia isn't targeting the expansion, because if Russia wanted the expansion - in 2008 Russians had an opportunity to conquer Georgia, but Russians didn't fully occupied Georgia in 2008. This is the evidence that Russia isn't trying to edpand and the goal of war isn't the expansion. Russia had invaded Ukraine, because : 1) Russians aren't seeing the Ukrainian people as people, they see Russians and Ukrainians as one people. 2) Ukrainian army was fighting against Russian separatist regions in the Donbass region, and this factor made Russian population feel angry towards Ukrainians ( I live in Russia and I know what people, that are surrounding me, are thinking). Russians are suppourting war and Putin, because for 8 years since 2014 Ukrainian military was killing Russian separatists in the Donbass region - unrecognized DPR and LPR governments. And Russians are counting this war as a "Crusade against Ukrainian nationalistic government, that was killing Russian rebels for 8 years". And this is true - Ukrainian government and governmental ideology is really nationalistic and anti-Russian in terms of history books and monuments. And war in the Dobass was happening for the last 8 years. 3) Also Ukraine wanted to join European Union, and Russian economical elites don't tolerate such move. If Ukraine had entered the European Union, Russian economic elites would lose Ukrainian market, and Ukraine would become more richer country, and such dictator as Putin don't need democratic and more developed country near his borders. And also Europe would use American nukes in Ukraine as an instrument in question of Russo-European gas trade - gas pepelines are located on the Ukrainian territory. NATO, as a nuclear operator, isn't threating the Russian security, and Russia, as a nuclear operator too, also isn't threating the NATO security. Putin is liar, and he is lying when he is talking about NATO expansion to the East. The reasons of war are economically-ideological - Ukraine wanted to join the European Union, the Western World, and Ukrainian government and ideology are nationalistic and anti-Russian, while Ukrainian forces were killing the Russian separatists in the Donbass war since 2014. But "security of Russia", as Putin says, isn't the reason of war.

[@Sb129]

That's what I don't get, a NATO - Russia war is nuclear. Idk why everyone thinks about ground invasions between Europe at large and Russia, that war would be nuclear and everyone knows it. It would be over within a span of 30 mins or less with everyone involved losing.

[@adamleafy275]

Although the history between Russia and Ukraine is messy, I never thought that Russia would actually invade.

[@Zankyo137]

Putin has been doing that for 8 years now, but something made him snap and he went all out in this conflict (likely a terminal illness, if so i hope is of the painful variant) , that he is parading as anti-nazi which is pure bullshit because flash news, racist behavior has been part of humankind since homo sapiens and nehandertal. Mussolini, Hitler and Putin (in this order) just weaponized it to gain power, political, military and economical ( many fail to understand that Hitler aimed at the jewish community due them being quite wealthy, and he needed money to build his military might, and later grown into a political tool and finaly into fanatism, this all cause the Art academy didn't took him in)

[@emintey]

You and most everyone else. It seems that while the West has Been playing with a 21st century conception of geopolitics, Russia was still engaged in a 19th century view.

[@kirkpatrick7475]

Russia wants power and dominance in Europe, her relationship with Ukraine is of no value if Ukraine is standing in her way of getting the gas and coal deposit in Donbass

[@simonkeen9368]

"You think the Russians would just look on as the US marched NATO right up to their borders in Ukraine? You think the Russians were just gonna sit there and take it?" -Rough quote of John Mearsheimer 2015

[@deesus1085]

@@simonkeen9368 that idiot also says the US created Ukraine to cool quote.

[@SectionSixteen]

Putin has admitted that the the combined strength of the USA and Western Europe cannot be matched by Russia. He indicated that an all out conflict between the West (NATO) and Russia would signal the ruination of the world. Then he said, "But what good is a world without Russia?" He really was imploring, "Let us thrive, or we'll see to it that no one thrives." He saw the U.S. operating camps in Ukraine to provide military training to Ukranian civilians. He wondered, "Who are you training these civilians to fight? Why are you preparing and enlarging a reserve army on our border?" These camps were attracting Ukranians with fascistic tendencies. They lionize Stepan Bandera, putting his face on stamps and on coins. And we expected Russia to remain placid toward that?

[@killerbeanvoodulstnr]

Did Putin notice those US operated camps before or after he invaded Ukraine and occupied Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014?

[@SectionSixteen]

@@killerbeanvoodulstnr Good question. The U.S. started those camps after Russia invaded and took over Crimea. The Russian take over of Crimea was a reaction to the Euromaidan protest and overthrow of Pres. Yanukovych, which Russia viewed as an American backed coup.

[@olddirtyb4st3rd]

But is geostrategy really that important when you have enough nukes to destroy mother earth 10 times? Also, why should NATO attack Russia? The West has declining demography, almost full employment (even now in times of crisis), skilled labor shortage... And Putin and his Siloviki-cronies fear that the West will send a significant part of its workforce to conquer and occupy Russia - the largest nation on the planet ?!?! Even if it would send all of its workforce as soldiers, it would not be enough. I think its fair to say that no NATO-member wants to attack Russia, but all want to have satisfactory trade relations and live in peace with it. Also I think its fair to say that the Siloviki need the West as archenemy, because otherwise they would not be able to uphold their reputation as the "strong men of Russia". As soon as this reputation crumbles, the ordinary russians would question their decadent kleptocratic lifestyle.

[@Arperture]

“Russia believes that it must be a world power, or there will be no Russia.” Only the Sith deal in absolutes.

[@zgramadan]

And the U.S. doesnt feel this way???

[@rejvaik00]

_"I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Russian federation!"_

[@dumigamez397]

Yup.

[@dankhank6013]

@@zgramadan "b-but muh USA! w-what about muh Afghanistan!" Why do vatniks always cope like this?

[@JohnWick-qr4yc]

@@dankhank6013 yep Russian bots saying the Crimes in Ukraine are ok because of American crimes they’ll nuke Ukraine then be like so American did it too lol

[@shikharamar1647]

"Peace is a lie, just another decay by a thousand cuts."

[@wilberdebeer4696]

So the Russians are Sith?

[@andrewhooper7603]

More proof that all ruling classes are stocked with psychopaths.

[@user-jp7tw3sd3x]

The irony is that Russia was winning the peace by waging a hybrid war, that involves propaganda, corruption, financing fringe political groups all over Europe, even meddling in USA elections and politics. Russia lost it all when it started an open bloody war.

[@hooligan2588]

@@wilberdebeer4696 "Si vis pacem, para bellum"

[@AB-nm7vy]

Peace is the outcome of balance of powers. Just like stability is in physics.

[@MG-ye1hu]

Though this may make sense in theory, it doesn't make sense practically. Conquering and holding such a huge territory like the entire Ukraine and Moldova is enormously costly. Only a superpower with clear economic dominance in a region could manage this. Russia is not such a power anymore. It is much more likely that Russia will limit its efforts to the russian speaking eastern territories and use the Dnjepr and the Oskil river as fortified borderlines. They are already pretty close to this goal. Geostrategically Russia shifted to the East building huge infrastructur towards China and India while cutting ties with western Europe. Under this premise expansion towards west doesn't make sense. We are not in the 19. century anymore when Europe was the economic heartland of the world. These theories of Russian European imperalism are just outdated.

[@robertch.519]

Shirvan, you are an experienced analyser of geopolitics. But how can you call Ukraine state a sovereign and independent state when even since 90s the US have been meddling in its political processes, even putting in the inner gvrmt circle its advisers?

[@ilyamiskov]

As an Estonian who is also relatively young (25) and starts to build his own life, saving up for my own property, this topic is making me very nervous about whether or not it’s going to be safe in my homeland during the next years or decades. This ultimately makes me think twice where I would want to establish my life and my family in order to be safe and prosperous. I love my country and I would hate if something like that happened to us.

[@ragglefraggle9111]

That's why you have NATO.

[@paulhenry8174]

You’ve got time. Things are happening right now. Things will look very different in a year. And your vision into the future will grow over that time. There’s almost always big clues before things go horribly wrong. Keep your eyes open and you will have lots of time to make a plan and benefit.

[@a.f.w.froschkonig2978]

@@ragglefraggle9111 More curse than blessing. But we will never get rid of it.

[@ragglefraggle9111]

@@a.f.w.froschkonig2978 Okay, Russian bot

[@ilyamiskov]

@@ragglefraggle9111 The thing about NATO, even though technically us being a member of NATO prevents Russia from ever invading us, we could still be invaded. Russia really needs that land passage to Kaliningrad. They also want to return to the state of their original USSR borders. The west could simply betray us and give us up in exchange for guarantees that Russia wouldn’t go any further or escalate to WWIII because that’s what the holy America would never want, nobody would. The Baltics seems like a small price to pay in order to keep general peace of the planet. There are many instances in history where countries were betrayed, agreements were broken and alliances were disbanded. I think it’s very unlikely, but it’s not totally impossible that it could happen. However if it did happen, NATO as a concept would cease to exist because all it’s other members would see we were betrayed, and would just resign from NATO anyway. If NATO would come to help (which I believe it would), does it make things easier for the Baltics? We would still have to go through destruction, blood, murder, rape and all the horrors that the war brings. Yes we would have help, but our land would become a battlefield, with thousands of deaths and homes destroyed. War is terrible in any case. And if you were unable to escape it before it started, as a man, you can’t flee the country because by law during a war time men are not allowed to leave, as they are the ones needed on the battlefields.

[@purrfekt]

The fatal flaw in this Russian rhetoric is that it is entirely Russia-centric. The independent nations Russia would have to roll over to achieve their strategic aim would not agree to be vassals of Russia. Unfortunately, unless Russia is willing to compromise their POV, there can be no peace with Russia. I hope this message eventually drums into the brains of the naive politicians in France and Germany who even now seek to appease Russia.

[@DaviRenania]

It is the central eurpean plain problem. Any nation that forms there will have a similar metality: create buffer to defend the heart land from war.

[@mint8648]

Csto

[@rikothearcher1743]

​@@DaviRenania Disagree. All this poor theories based on geography is essentially the primitive attempt to explain extremely complex matters which can't be comprehend so simple.

[@a.f.w.froschkonig2978]

Look, we also do not agree to be vassals of the US, but aren´t we ?

[@naveenpalanisamy9730]

@@a.f.w.froschkonig2978 How are european nations vassals of US? They have disagreements in a lot of areas right ? That basically breaks the idea that European nations are vassals. If you want a true vassal state then look at belarus.

[@NihilSineDeo09]

1:02 The Gambling Man metaphor shows the literary genius of whoever wrote the script. It captures perfectly Putin's current state of heart & mind

[@slan77]

The strategic reason is just one part. Other reason is massive natural gas deposits found recently (about 10 years ago) in Ukraine land and Black Sea.

[@altrag]

That heartland theory is certainly "interesting" given that there has only been one major empire ever based out of that region - the Mongols. Kind of makes the assertion that its the best place to center world domination a tad bit questionable (never mind the fact that its drawn "conveniently" similar to the bounds of the USSR.. that's not suspicious at all, now is it?)

[@TheFranchiseCA]

The problem with the theory is that it's the oceans that bring prosperity, not the inland.

[@alexanderswift6362]

The important thing about this theory is not whether it makes any logical sense, but how closely it conforms to Eurasianism, which Russian leadership is inspired by. Were Mussolini's dreams of Mediterranean and African empire at all likely to be successful? No, but "el Duce" pursued empire regardless ... and got hundreds of thousands of Italians killed in the process.

[@David-cj8wv]

You forget how powerful Russia was before WWI. Had the communists not completely destroyed Russia as a functional society, pissed off it’s neighbors and murdered it’s fertility rate Russia would easily be one of if not the most powerful countries in the world but the heartland theory was written before the Bolshevik Revolution

[@hemanthnair1290]

@@TheFranchiseCA 'Prosperity' for adherents of this theory is associated with 'rootless cosmopolitanism' and decadent liberal social values. There's a whole cultural conservative, quasi-fascist angle that comes with this theory.

[@diceman3219]

the theory is a bullshit build around the idea that railway could replace seatrade

[@juanes1182]

So Russia be like: "I'm wasting my time not ruling over europe, asia and africa. I'm the heartland after all.."

[@aka99]

lol yeah😅

[@effexon]

note mention "not imploding"... it is happening.... bad governance.

[@lukewiseman9946]

Dear Caspian Report, Thank you for this thoughtful video; really trying to show 'How it is from the Russian side'; in essence there is a fear of invasion, at least in the mind of someone who may be a bit paranoid and who probably wants to hold onto power by creating an external enemy. In the West, we tend to see NATO as a defensive alliance; the Russians maybe see it differently. Good work for mentioning Mackinder's theory. It has been commented on extensively already. I would like to bring a slightly different perspective on it to the discussion. You only applied the Heartland theory to the Russian viewpoint. These ideas were developed by the English branch of the Anglo-American élite and they have not forgotten them. It certainly appears that this élite, especially those in the U.S.A. are desperate to weaken Russia, presumably to be able to gain control of the natural resources and are prepared to go to any lengths to do so, as long as gaining control does not involve direct confrontation between Yankee soldiers and Russian soldiers. This aim has been going on for years and decades. If the Russians are nervous about an enemy advancing across the European Plain, including the Ukraine, then it was probably fairly predictable that the Russians would feel that they had to react when they saw the Ukraine being led towards the West with the help of the U.S.A. It is, of course, Germany and those countries nearby (Middle Europe or Mitteleuropa) which should be forging a bridge between the 'West' and the 'East'. Note with what rapidity Germany was pressured into cutting the flow of gas along the NordStream pipeline. Frau Merkel was reported to be fluent in Russian; Herr Scholtz needs to either be fluent or have someone who is. I appreciate that it may seem strange to say the following, but it seems to me that the best thing, assuming that we all survive and that there is a negotiated settlement, would be that Russia and the Ukraine both join the E.U. Maybe only 'european' Russia (as far as the Ural Mountains). The people of Russia would be able to see that life in some sort of democracy is not too bad and that the people of the rest of Europe are, well, human beings as well as them. The E.U., for all its faults has, at the very least managed to keep the big european states from being at each other's throats. We had spent the previous centuries doing just that. Best wishes, Luke Wiseman (writing from Britain)

[@simonfrost7094]

"Frau Merkel" was fluent in Russian because she was born and raised in East Germany (DDR). Learning Russian and German was part of the educational system there.

[@christopherblackwell4298]

You assume NATO would allow one of its members to take territory internationally recognized as Russian. I think that is not something that would happen. Georgia may press to take back land already captured by Russia but there is no way NATO would allow active aggression to take additional land without cause.

[@masterimbecile]

If this “mother Russia” is a real life person, she’d already have been taken into custody and underwent psychological treatment.

[@ibnu9969]

by who? the "world police" America?

[@jaredgomora6506]

@@ibnu9969 more likely

[@jacobjorgenson9285]

And we would have locked up the murderous America a long LONG time ago. It's crimes are too long to list here

[@somechuvak2174]

Meanwhile yangire American-chan gets to murder scott free.

[@Nextthing]

You know what they say.. the real psychopaths are not in prison. They don't get caught. How man killed in Libya, Iraq, Syria and Yemen again?