Tangent to all that - whether the US reputation will change or not, it’s becoming clear the russian military reputation is way, way overestimated. I’m curious what effect this will have

It was overestimated. Latest narration is that currently they are more prepared to taking on NATO and whoever than they were for decades. Because they painfully but successfully adapted despite the pressure from Western hardware.

The US isn’t fighting in Ukraine so that’d be a strange result. Especially since our surplus weapons with novice operators have laid waste to the invasion force of what was considered to be the 2nd or 3rd strongest army on the planet..

>surplus weapons

I'll grant that for the Bradley, but Patriot batteries are in rather short supply.

The fight isn't over yet and there is trouble in the Red Sea and it could all turn into WW-III at some point.

> The US isn’t fighting in Ukraine

Same way that russia is not fighting a war but commencing special military operation.

US is doing it with both hands tied behind their back but it will make defeat no less devastating.

In reality US is fighting their penultimate war right now if it ends in a loss.

> what was considered to be the 2nd or 3rd strongest army on the planet..

That was summarily debunked about two weeks into the conflict. And noone but russians believes it today.

How much active fighting troops do NATO countries have in Ukraine, exactly? You need those to be counted a belligerent in a conflict.

It’s utterly bizarre that people keep insisting the US is fighting a war given we have zero troops and zero military hardware committed there.. Ukraine has destroyed hundreds of armored units and multiple $billion naval ships with literal 25-yr old weapons… all the fear of WWIII is premised on the US actually engaging since the Russians would suffer immediate and massive losses and the only way to save face would be to go nuclear.

>and zero military hardware committed there..

Where'd those Bradleys come from, then? Zero troops yes, but the US has absolutely shipped a ton of military hardware to Ukraine.

Ukraine would absolutely fold without the inflow of NATO military hardware, that's the crux of Russia's strategy for winning - hope it can undermine Western support for a Ukraine war, and then crush Ukraine once they're on their own. That's the entire reason why Russia blocked gas exports to Europe - they lost a lot of gas profits forcing the EU to choose between supporting Ukraine or having Russian gas for the winter.

The US itself isn't fighting in the war, but they're undeniably a key participant in it. With military hardware and training and intel support and money.

The US, like all other NATO members, shipped a ton of hardware to Ukraine. None of that hardware is operated by NATO personel, under NATO flag so. Hence, NATO is not an active participant in the war in Ukraine, despite being arms, ammunition and intelligence suppliers as well as close allies of Ukraine.

And yes, those details matter in geopolitics, a lot.

Formalities don't matter for image. And that's what US is about to lose completely. Do you think that China will say, but NATO soldiers didn't really fight? Modern war is supposedly all about equipment and ammunition. And NATO can't even afford proxy war against enemy fighting with heaps of junk apparently.

It would be particularly strange for US’s military reputation to be damaged by a war it hasn’t lost a man in.

Modern war is about equipment not people. Especially in case of a conflict where one side is successfuly prevented from deploying any soldiers. War is about making the other side behave how you want them to behave. US is failing hard at that.

All war is about equipment not people; logistics has always been the primary weapon of war.

US is simply not a party to Ukraine’s war; they are supplying equipment in a very minimal capacity.

World literally does not care. If Russia wins, Russia wins. US loses, Western world loses. Loses all credibility.

Russia started it. US didn't run away soon and fast enough. Now the fight is on. If it ends with Russia winning nobody will listen to US whining "but we didn't really fight". Nobody will care. Neither opponents, nor allies. Especially not China.