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solarbirdAFP News Agency - @AFP · 11:20 AM · Jan 26, 2022Good.
The United States rejected Russia's demand to bar Ukraine from NATO and said it believed Moscow was ready to invade but offered what it called a new "diplomatic path" out of the crisis http://u.afp.com/wxYC
Look, there's a reason why this matters on a larger scale, okay? It has to do with authoritarianism and militarism.
That reason is the international consensus after World War II that war was no longer going to be a valid/recognised way to change borders.
Yes, that committment has frayed many times. One could argue it's been observed in the breach as much as the observence.
But it still matters.
The authoritarian movement - and fascists in general - want that committment _gone_.
They want back wars of conquest.
And most importantly what they want isn't to get away with a nibble here and there - they want conquest _recognised_, _accepted_....
...and _normalised_.
"Not stolen - conquered" says the fascist front. They're wrong, it was both, but it says what they want: wars of conquest.
Putin - as an ex-KGB Russian nationalist - wants the Soviet Union back, or as close as he can get to it.
As an _authoritarian_, he wants the ability to have his wars of conquest against neighbour states recognised and accepted.
He is not the only such authoritarian.
Even if he were, it would still matter. But he is _not_.
And - even beyond the plight of Ukraine - _that_ is why it matters.
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Date: 2022-01-27 02:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-27 05:08 am (UTC)