Or do you have secret information that Nato would overnight change its rules to allow countries with disputed borders to join?
The problem with Ukraine seems to be that it was a successful democracy on the border of Russia and that due to the historically close connections between Russia and Ukraine, Russians could easily see themselves in Ukrainians.
Ukraine was getting armed to the teeth, and with good stuff from the West. Russia had to react before it’s too late.
Keep in mind Russia shares border with many successful democracies from ex-Soviet block, I can’t see how that can ever be an argument.
You know why they were getting armed, don't you?
Because that fellow in Kreml kept financing terrorists in Donbas so they could shoot down airliners and shell kindergarten, right?
Well, I mean, he's 69. It's not that unusual to go downhill at around that age, and he's been acting very oddly RE covid.
All those discussions about morals, mistakes and the descent of sanity are beside the point.
Sanity (Oxfod, 2nd def) :
>the state of being sensible and reasonable
Morality is indeed besides the point, I just added it as I feel dirty suggesting he's rationale 3 days after invading Ukraine without amending the idea.
As for mistake, I think speaking of a political mistake is relevant if we should consider your explanation wrong, i.e. he's sane/rational autocrat whose invasion backfired more than expected, should that be the case.
I think we agree on that.
Narcissist, certainly; immoral and corrupted, most likely; but still possibly rational [0], I see no reason they'd be de facto irrational despite how I feel about them. Born autocrats (or born in a line of succession) are a different story, but I'd argue it would even be unlikely for a commoner to ascend to absolute power without starting off as a rational, calculated and intelligent person (tho ofc not impossible, there are obvious cases). Not that there is any guarantee they'll necessarily remain so, seems unlikely after years or decades being surrounded by sycophants.
Feel free to disagree.
0: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/americ...
Survival breeds sycophants, ...
Shit, why am I reciting stuff from 8th century BC here?