I thought this was a very insightful video. Anders is often able to discern stark simple truths and their implications without falling into the trap of common misconceptions.
The prediction about what Russia will do on January 20th seems very likely to me.
Anders was one of the very few analysts that predicted Russia was going to invade in the months/weeks before their actual invasion.
Putin doesn’t want the best country on the map.
That’s something you get by building stable and robust institutions that do good things. Ones that solve problems by enacting sane policies, funding infrastructure, spreading education and ensuring healthcare for as many as possible.
No.
Putin just wants the biggest country on the map.
I think people are forgetting Putin’s personality. He’s a brutal tyrant, yes, but he’s also a narcissist who cannot stand any sort of disloyalty or defiance. Long ago he committed himself (in writing) to the ideology that Ukrainians are Russian. He believes that Ukrainian people BELONG to HIM. So every day that the war continues and Ukrainians fight and die and above all else defy him, he takes as a grave insult that he cannot abide.
That’s why he will not stop until he is deposed or dead. He’s more determined than a pitbull to force Ukraine to bend the knee. He’s like a villain from Game of Thrones.
Russia is interested in submission … of territory … the entire territory of Ukraine (at some point in the future).
That’s what he’s saying, that they don’t need or even particularly want the territory, as long as they can make Ukraine be weak, afraid and doing their bidding.
I was pointing out the contradiction in the title.
“What Russia wants from Ukraine is not territory”
Yes, it is. It’s always comes back to land. Land is THE thing that every country wants. They’re not making more of it, and everything derives from land.
Did you even watch the video?
I agree with the video, It’s all about control not land
It’s all about control not land
I agree with you, it’s all about control … of land.
Ok, I see… The land itself isn’t the most valuable thing in Ukraine though. And Russia may be the country least interested in simple lebensraum. They want the benefits of that land, the people and resources on it. And what those two things produce and influence. And they can get those by subjugating the leadership of the country.
