The Unsaid Context of the Ukraine Conflict

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We agree.  I have been informed and understand that you and I live in different worlds.  I find 21st century cynical uninteresting.  Unless one is on the ground ducking or bearing down, talk is cheap.  

There is only one world, and we're both in it.

If you find 21st-century cynicism uninteresting, then that means you find only the opposite interesting, i.e., 21st-century optimism. But that contradicts your last sentence, as optimism means one doesn't need to be "on the ground ducking or bearing down."

Second, optimism in such circumstances involves cheap talk.

Last, posting memes to troll me in a thread about a topic that eventually leads to one being "on the ground ducking or bearing" down is an example of cynicism. Thus, not only are you a cynic but you find it interesting.

Incredible: you just contradicted yourself three times in one post.

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Seen in light of the effects of neoliberalism, i.e., wars lead to inflation, prompting the Fed to raise interest rates, in turn causing other currencies to devalue, in turn causing other countries to move away from the dollar.

"Suddenly Everyone Is Hunting for Alternatives to the US Dollar"

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-21/fx-weaponization-supercharges-de-dollarization-drive

Tired of a too-strong and newly weaponized greenback, some of the world's biggest economies are exploring ways to circumvent the US currency. 

Smaller nations, including at least a dozen in Asia, are also experimenting with de-dollarization. And corporates around the world are selling an unprecedented portion of their debt in local currencies, wary of further dollar strength.

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From August, 2022:

"West Prepares to Plunder Post-war Ukraine with Neoliberal Shock Therapy"

https://towardfreedom.org/story/archives/europe/west-prepares-to-plunder-post-war-ukraine-with-neoliberal-shock-therapy/

While the United States and Europe flood Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars of weapons, using it as an anti-Russian proxy and pouring fuel on the fire of a brutal war that is devastating the country, they are also making plans to essentially plunder its post-war economy.

Representatives of Western governments and corporations met in Switzerland this July to plan a series of harsh neoliberal policies to impose on post-war Ukraine, calling to cut labor laws, "open markets," drop tariffs, deregulate industries, and "sell state-owned enterprises to private investors."

Mentioned in the same article:

"Ex US official admits Ukraine conflict is NATO 'proxy war with Russia'"

https://multipolarista.com/2022/03/24/us-official-ukraine-nato-proxy-war-russia/


Eurasia
Ex US official admits Ukraine conflict is NATO 'proxy war with Russia'

Former US State Department official Eliot Cohen stated openly that the conflict in Ukraine is a NATO "proxy war with Russia," and called for using the country to kill as many Russian soldiers as possible, "the more and faster the better."

By
Ben Norton

Published
2022-03-24
Ukrainian tanks   

A former US State Department official has stated openly that the conflict in Ukraine is a NATO "proxy war with Russia," and called for killing as many Russian soldiers as possible, "the more and faster the better."

These comments were made by Eliot A. Cohen, who served as a counselor for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from 2007 to 2009, in the George W. Bush administration's State Department.

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From last July:

"Ukraine's War Economy Is Being Choked by Neoliberal Dogmas"

https://jacobin.com/2022/07/ukraine-neoliberalism-war-russia-eu-imf

States at war generally adopt interventionist economic policies to mobilize resources and manpower. Ukraine hasn't followed suit, instead pursuing dogmatic free-marketeer measures that suit Western creditors more than its own population.

It's a fascinating strategy: dig yourself into a deeper hole.

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Interesting piece from philosopher Zizek:

"Ukraine's Tale of Two Colonizations"

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ukraine-russian-occupation-or-western-neoliberal-colonization-by-slavoj-zizek-2022-08

It would be tragic if Ukraine defeated Russian neo-imperialism only to yoke itself to Western neoliberalism. While being a Western economic colony is certainly better than being absorbed into a new Russian empire, neither outcome is worthy of the suffering Ukrainians are now enduring.

...

The show's depiction of Ukraine is apt. Of all the post-communist countries in Eastern Europe, it was the hardest hit by economic "shock therapy" (sweeping market reforms and privatization) in the 1990s. For three decades since independence, Ukrainian incomes have remained below where they were in 1990. Corruption has been rampant, and the courts have proven a farce.

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A remarkable piece as the author struggles to reconcile the unavoidable drive to create the East "in our image" and the consequences of doing so:

"Ukraine: Beyond the Postsoviet"

https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/ukraine-beyond-the-postsoviet/

Twenty years later, Eastern Europe has been divided several times: some countries have joined the European Union, others NATO, others have remained on the periphery of these spaces. Although Crimea was annexed in 2014, the Foros Sanatorium still accepts bookings. Feminists in Ukraine have continued their work. There are now women's studies center at all major universities. In Russia, however, dissent has been squashed, as the members of the feminist punk rock group p***y Riot learned when they protested Putin's tight connection with the Orthodox Church.

Thirty years of global neoliberal capitalism have also engendered an unprecedented accumulation of wealth, especially by white men. At no time in history has the wealth of the planet been concentrated in such a small number of pale-skinned, male hands. Not all these men appear interested in conjoining their enormous wealth with political power, but it is a matter of luck and disposition: today they're launching a rocket manned by astronauts wearing tuxedo-style costumes, tomorrow they might resolve to use media to sow their most outlandish fantasies in the hearts of millions. Today they're building yachts the size of natural formations for their girlfriends, tomorrow they might decide to invade a country of 40 million people. Who could stop them?

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From 2013:

"Are Ukrainians taking the streets for neoliberalism?"

https://wagingnonviolence.org/2013/12/ukrainians-taking-streets-neoliberalism/

What is the cause? President Yanukovich abandoned the Association Agreement and a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, which would integrate the country further into the European Union. In doing, it would allow European capital greater access to Ukrainian companies by reducing trade barriers. One step closer to the EU, however, means one step away from Russia, and it appears to be due to Kremlin pressure that Yanukovich backed away from the deal. The protests, therefore, seem to be staking out a position against Russian influence, but in favor of neoliberal economic policies. Today, Ukranian president Viktor Yanukovich flew to Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin as protesters continued to defy police.

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From the European CFR, of all places:

"In Europe's gift: How to avoid a Ukraine 'forever war'"

https://ecfr.eu/article/in-europes-gift-how-to-avoid-a-ukraine-forever-war/

In many respects, our initial conclusions align with those of the authors. We certainly share their democratic values and commitment to Ukraine's defence. One of several points we agree with are the innovative proposals for European security guarantees for Ukraine, which are carefully framed "not to solidify a permanent divide between the West and Russia". The ideas put forward on building partnerships in the armaments industry are also very helpful.

However, we argue that Ukraine rapidly needs to move away from neoliberal economic policies in order to prevent the kind of intractable conflict observed in other places and to provide more social support for the Ukrainian population. We consider this to be incompatible with immediate full membership of the single market. Indeed, it could hugely complicate Ukraine's accession to full membership of the European Union, which we enthusiastically support.

Okidoky.

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"Nobel Peace Prize Winners Have Deep CIA Ties"

https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/12/21/nobel-peace-prize-winners-have-deep-cia-ties/

Although the idea may seem far-fetched, this year's winners all have connections to a CIA offshoot, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Oleksandra Matviichuk, for example, who accepted this year's Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Ukraine Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) on December 10, had received the NED's annual Democracy Award on behalf of the CCL six months earlier.[1]

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"Ukraine Is America's Latest Stalemate War"

https://townhall.com/columnists/michaelreagan/2022/12/24/ukraine-is-americas-latest-stalemate-war-n2617543

On Afghanistan:

We spent 20 years and about $2.3 trillion there and what did we get in return, besides the 2,500 dead U.S. soldiers and 3,800 dead U.S. contractors?

Nothing.

You'd think anyone with enough common sense would by now consider the reasons why the U.S. intervenes.

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Related: Might there be a connection between revelations between Twitter and gov't agencies and the manner by which media was used to sell various narratives about Russia, Ukraine, etc?

https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1606701397109796866

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In terms of context, one example of NATO reach:

This is what Gaddafi's Libya has been reduced to. You can thank NATO "the defensive alliance" for it.

https://twitter.com/richimedhurst/status/1606682745777917953

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In relation to the context of a country that's been at war throughout much of its existence:

Why has the United States been at war almost my entire adult life?

https://twitter.com/miltimore79/status/1606097764940599296

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In the spirit of bad (and good) movies,

https://twitter.com/mask_bastard/status/1606810958147510275

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Possibly related, as the neocon shilling involved not just media but even social media:

"Twitter Aided the Pentagon in Its Covert Online Propaganda Campaign"

https://theintercept.com/2022/12/20/twitter-dod-us-military-accounts/

In 2018, for instance, Twitter announced the mass suspension of accounts tied to Russian government-linked propaganda efforts. Two years later, the company boasted of shutting down almost 1,000 accounts for association with the Thai military. But rules on platform manipulation, it appears, have not been applied to American military efforts.

The emails obtained by The Intercept show that not only did Twitter whitelist these accounts in 2017 explicitly at the behest of the military, but also that high-level officials at the company discussed the accounts as potentially problematic in the following years.

The Stanford study:

https://public-assets.graphika.com/reports/graphika_stanford_internet_observatory_report_unheard_voice.pdf