I appreciate the history lesson, Zork. Since I was born in 1940 I have lived through much of it, but I don't remember the dates for all the organizations.
When you say, "The Western world represents about 1/8th of the world’s population." doe that include the EU? South America?
Are you familiar with the Westphalia Treaty, were nations agreed not to get involved in internal disputes within foreign nations? The US, I believe, was the first to break that treaty, giving Russia and others the permission to ignore it as well.
I mostly disagree with both the video and the very long article, but I do agree with the basic idea: the expression that can best describe the position of the European states vis-á-vis the USA is vassals.
I had an email exchange about this post with a friend, sharing it here with his consent:
AM
It looks like you’ve gone as deep down the Ukraine rabbit hole as I have. I think your analysis nails it but I’m surprised you didn’t explore Hungary’s rather muted response towards the situation. They’re next to Ukraine and, given the Soviet Union’s invasion of Hungary in 1956, one would think they’d have as much to fear and hate about a supposedly revanchist Russia as any other European country. Of course, the mainstream narrative is that Orban is a Putin-esque autocrat so naturally he’s not 100% behind Ukraine. However, it seems to me that Orban, Szijjarto and crew have a much better grasp of the reality than the abysmal political leaders in Europe (hard to pick which place is the worst but I think it must be Germany) and, given the situation of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, an understanding of the nasty strain of ethno-nationalism that exists within Ukraine which, as you pointed out, helped contribute to this catastrophe.
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ZGH
I do not pay enough attention to Hungarian politics, but my impression is that Orbán is the perfect example of what realpolitik looks like.
Hungary just does not want to be an enemy of Russia and Hungary is already the black sheep of the EU.
Hungarians is also quite dependent on the Russians for a few resources and they are not as stupid as the Germans – i.e.: not biting the hand that feeds them.
=====================
AM
Yes, it appears that the Hungarians are the only ones in the Europe that practice realpolitik while maintaining a clear-eyed perspective on the situation (i.e. Russia is not Nazi Germany and Putin is not Hitler). I’ve noticed that there are still some politicians in Austria that do (perhaps influenced by their historical partners the Hungarians) and a few other individual exceptions here and there but beyond that, the state of European political leadership is appalling. A few exceptions in the US as well but, as far as I’m aware, none whatsoever in Canada (which, let’s face it, has evolved to become an analogue of the Western European socialist state with an intellectually vapid leadership that rivals that of Germany).
The other observation that you didn’t make is the way in which the emotional hysteria within the West passed seamlessly from covid to Ukraine (“war psychosis” is what the Hungarians are calling it… seemingly everyone in the West clamouring for war, nobody speaking up for negotiations and peace). It’s as though the psychic energy of the masses with all its emotionalism, sloganeering, lack of reason and perspective needed an outlet and the comic-book Ukraine narrative fit the bill.
===========
ZGH
That is the point of the whole series that I am trying to connect with the autopsy analogy in the titles. I made the point in fear porn utopias, and I will return to it.
I am working on the piece about AGI (again). I consider it to be the most alarming and dangerous of them all.
As for the Ukraine war, I am rather optimistic. The dethroning of the American hegemon and the creation of a genuinely multi-polar world order may be the best hope for humanity’s survival. It may be the solution for a number of problems we have. It will for sure get corrupted eventually, but it may give us a hundred years or two.
I appreciate the history lesson, Zork. Since I was born in 1940 I have lived through much of it, but I don't remember the dates for all the organizations.
When you say, "The Western world represents about 1/8th of the world’s population." doe that include the EU? South America?
Are you familiar with the Westphalia Treaty, were nations agreed not to get involved in internal disputes within foreign nations? The US, I believe, was the first to break that treaty, giving Russia and others the permission to ignore it as well.
I don't think that there is an official definition, my understanding of it is:
all of the European countries, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
This is what is customarily referred to as the "golden billion" - or - 1/8th of the planet's population
Just after I finished my post, I stumbled upon this video: https://youtu.be/-xcVy-Fta1I
Which led me to this article: https://ecfr.eu/publication/the-art-of-vassalisation-how-russias-war-on-ukraine-has-transformed-transatlantic-relations/
I mostly disagree with both the video and the very long article, but I do agree with the basic idea: the expression that can best describe the position of the European states vis-á-vis the USA is vassals.
I had an email exchange about this post with a friend, sharing it here with his consent:
AM
It looks like you’ve gone as deep down the Ukraine rabbit hole as I have. I think your analysis nails it but I’m surprised you didn’t explore Hungary’s rather muted response towards the situation. They’re next to Ukraine and, given the Soviet Union’s invasion of Hungary in 1956, one would think they’d have as much to fear and hate about a supposedly revanchist Russia as any other European country. Of course, the mainstream narrative is that Orban is a Putin-esque autocrat so naturally he’s not 100% behind Ukraine. However, it seems to me that Orban, Szijjarto and crew have a much better grasp of the reality than the abysmal political leaders in Europe (hard to pick which place is the worst but I think it must be Germany) and, given the situation of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, an understanding of the nasty strain of ethno-nationalism that exists within Ukraine which, as you pointed out, helped contribute to this catastrophe.
=================
ZGH
I do not pay enough attention to Hungarian politics, but my impression is that Orbán is the perfect example of what realpolitik looks like.
Hungary just does not want to be an enemy of Russia and Hungary is already the black sheep of the EU.
Hungarians is also quite dependent on the Russians for a few resources and they are not as stupid as the Germans – i.e.: not biting the hand that feeds them.
=====================
AM
Yes, it appears that the Hungarians are the only ones in the Europe that practice realpolitik while maintaining a clear-eyed perspective on the situation (i.e. Russia is not Nazi Germany and Putin is not Hitler). I’ve noticed that there are still some politicians in Austria that do (perhaps influenced by their historical partners the Hungarians) and a few other individual exceptions here and there but beyond that, the state of European political leadership is appalling. A few exceptions in the US as well but, as far as I’m aware, none whatsoever in Canada (which, let’s face it, has evolved to become an analogue of the Western European socialist state with an intellectually vapid leadership that rivals that of Germany).
The other observation that you didn’t make is the way in which the emotional hysteria within the West passed seamlessly from covid to Ukraine (“war psychosis” is what the Hungarians are calling it… seemingly everyone in the West clamouring for war, nobody speaking up for negotiations and peace). It’s as though the psychic energy of the masses with all its emotionalism, sloganeering, lack of reason and perspective needed an outlet and the comic-book Ukraine narrative fit the bill.
===========
ZGH
That is the point of the whole series that I am trying to connect with the autopsy analogy in the titles. I made the point in fear porn utopias, and I will return to it.
I am working on the piece about AGI (again). I consider it to be the most alarming and dangerous of them all.
As for the Ukraine war, I am rather optimistic. The dethroning of the American hegemon and the creation of a genuinely multi-polar world order may be the best hope for humanity’s survival. It may be the solution for a number of problems we have. It will for sure get corrupted eventually, but it may give us a hundred years or two.