Why have US-Russian relations been in decline the past 15 years?
US-Russian relations
Isaac Wright
Other urls found in this thread:
ft.com
thisismoney.co.uk
telegraph.co.uk
youtube.com
twitter.com
Wyatt Cruz
Because both sides have imperialistic ambitions, Putin wants to secure and expand Russian influence while Burgers try to cockblock him wherever it is possible. I thought it was quite obvious
Caleb Ortiz
I'll give you secure but expand? Any examples of this? Russia makes no secret about wanting 'privileged status' in the former soviet block. But I don't see how this is any different to US policy in their own back yard. Now obviously two wrongs don't make a right. It just strikes me as belligerent on the US's part.
Adam Cruz
Russian imperialists hoping to cut into US' imperialists market
Ayden Gonzalez
I would guess because we've ben sabotaging each other any way we can get away with without the button being pushed for the better part of a century. Russia is probably butthurt they are considered to have lost the Cold War, Murka is as insufferably smug and condescending about winning another war. Both are have been acting like imperialist turds since before the war started, so it's simplicty itself for one to talk shit about the other.
William Robinson
Example? Ukraine, Georgia. These are examples of the exact opposite of what you claim.
Jason Martin
The eastward expansion of NATO. Also the expansion of the EU, which largely precedes integration into NATO. There were agreements drawn up at the end of the Cold War that this should not be done, but its happened anyway. Big surprise.
Ukraine was a red line for Russia. Without laying out its historical significance and intimate economic ties to Russia, consider that, up until recently, a lot of Russian gas flowed out of it into Europe proper. That was an economic lifeline for Russia, with its oligarchical regime and industrial stagnation. Also consider that Russia doesn't have much access to warm water ports – the main reason for the existence of Kaliningrad Oblast – so having Sevastopol as a base for its Black Sea fleet was paramount to Putin's global security interests. Could he trust that an EU-integrated and potentially NATO-integrated country would ensure Russia's continued access to that base? No. Of course not. After all, NATO had already arrived at its borders via the Baltics. So all bets were off. Similarly, the only naval base Russia has access to in the Mediterranean is in Syria: Tartus. Is it any surprise that is has a keen interest in the events there?
Now, the Kremlin has imperialist ambitions – it just can't realize them, mostly because it's on the back foot and is fighting to keep its security interests within its general reach. Not to mention preventing Russia from fragmenting into a large-scale version of the breakup of Yugoslavia was the primary concern of the Russian government even for most of Putin's leadership. Western media talks endlessly about Russian aggression – but what it fails to acknowledge is that US imperialism pretty much had free reign from 1991 until Georgia, 2008. Russia was again strong enough to reassert its interests by force – and then the whole rhetoric changed. So there's a bit of context to the saber-rattling.
Aaron Evans
Because the Russians have nothing the Americans want.
They have no incentive not to fuck with them.
Luke Perry
Just because they can? Seems pointless. I don't believe they're doing it for no reason.
Plenty of meat in this post and IMO pretty damned accurate. But still doens't get down to the real why.
Chase Reed
Because they never been good. The west only liked Russia when Yeltsin was okay with the west raping Eastern Europe.