In 1939, Russia attacked Finland. There was no reason for it, other than that Russia wanted more land to reduce its perceived vulnerability. Finland was not a threat to the Russians, but Stalin simply wanted more territory.

During the Winter War, Finland defended itself bravely, but its lack of reliable partners proved fatal. It was strong enough not to be occupied by Russia, but it wasn't until 1995 that it was able to decide to join the EU. Its independence was an independence by the grace of Russia.

Now, if Trump gets his way, Ukraine is in danger of suffering the same fate. It also has the misfortune of Russia wanting to solve a perceived vulnerability, and if Russia has its way, Moscow will determine what the country can and cannot do—that's if it isn't completely occupied by Russia.

It's not so strange that Finland is seen as the expert. The Finnish prime minister has a good relationship with Trump... for what that's worth.

At the very least, it is a non-pro-Russian voice in Trump's ear. That alone is a win. Most people around Trump are, after all, on Moscow's side. Now, let's hope Trump remembers that voice when it counts.

.
--- SBBSecho 3.29-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (1:124/5016)

Joseph Pereira wrote to All <=-

In 1939, Russia attacked Finland. There was no reason for it, other
than that Russia wanted more land to reduce its perceived
vulnerability. Finland was not a threat to the Russians, but Stalin
simply wanted more territory.

I saw an interesting video trying to describe Russian geopolitical
thinking, and it made a lot of sense if you turn the map of europe 90
degrees clockwise, so Russia is at the bottom. All of their policies
have been around limiting the border exposure to western Europe, like
they're planning on rolling tanks through again.

The invasion of Ukraine, when looked at from that perspective, seems to
fit the theory. It's all about limiting border access to Russia and
creating buffers.




--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)