You won’t find many folk in the UK who have chosen to side with Russia in their war with Ukraine. Nor many that think anyone should seek a peace deal with them, certainly for the time being. For good reason. Russia is a fascist state. Decent folk don’t support fascists. This bit of metal work popped up in Bournemouth recently. There are churches flying Ukrainian flags. Blogs draw themselves in yellow and blue. Feelings run high here. I think these are sentiments largely shared across the west. Of course, there are contrarians. There always are.
But I have noticed a segment of the US population who seem to have adopted a somewhat curious position, thanks to the deluded belief that the whole war is NATO’s fault. It isn’t of course. They support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, because if the roles were reversed and the Russians or Chinese moved into Mexico, they’d support the US Army marching on CDMX. They’re also fed up of the US being the global policeman. They want a return to an isolationist policy. ‘Ukraine is not their problem’. It also seems to me that this is an idea which has a growing amount of political support in certain circles.
There’s always a global policeman. Often more than one. There’s always a bit of butting of heads and jostling for boundaries. If the US wants to relinquish the role, others will step into the breech. Nothing sucks in a foreign power more effectively than a power vacuum. China’s Road and Belt Initiative has already ensured that there are sticky Sino fingers in an increasing number of international pies. American detachment from the rest of the world can only result in the expansion of a Russian fuelled China.
Ukraine may fall. Taiwan too. And then one day, quite suddenly, Mexico will rather look like a province of China. The renminbi accepted in Oxxo. Xi Xinping feted in Mexico City. A base in northern Mexico hosting a squadron or two of Chengdu J20s. What then for the folk who support Russia today? What then, indeed. It is true that Ukraine is not their problem. That is true today, and it will remain true tomorrow. The problem is fascism. That’s why most folk oppose Russia. They’re a fascist state. Wherever it is, fascism is always a problem.
Pretending it isn’t always ends the same. See the title of this post for details.
The Mexile 
The problem with Facism is that a good third of any polity thinks it just might be a swell form of government. It is just beyond their comprehension that the authority and control that sounds so great, has just as much chance of swallowing them up as the ‘others’ that they fear. Fascism is a beast that needs human fodder to survive, it cares not a whit where it feeds. If one is afraid of the ‘other’ it is hard to see the danger of being labeled the “other” at some point in the future.
The beast is feeding hard in Ukraine. If we fail to put it back in its cage this decade, next decade will make the 1940s look like a Sunday School picnic.
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All you say is true. But there’s more to it, I think. Quite a number of people simply don’t care about ‘other people’s fascism’. Quite a number don’t see any sort of peril. And an unfortunate number of folk just don’t plain old fashioned recognize fascism when it’s staring them in the face.
Russia is the most overtly fascist state in the world today. But it’s not necessarily the most dangerous fascist state.
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Interesting post Gary, America or the United States if you wish has military bases in at least 80 countries, Martin Luther in his anti war speech in New York said that the US government was the “greatest purveyor of violence in the world today” that was more than fifty years ago and things haven’t changed much. What’s more is that the US spends more on the military than on education or healthcare and their so called “homeland security” which for all intents and purposes is a more deluxe version of those distant bases.
A few years back there was a push to remove or close down all those bases and haul their collective asses back home. It makes financial sense as I’m sure many of them would be more like satellite bases originally planted to prevent the odd skirmish from getting out of hand but there are others no doubt with more secretive motives that benefit the security and possibly undermine those of other less “progressive” countries.
As regards Mexico I’m sure AMLO and any other president would see through the fawning of the Chinese leaders quickly enough but would welcome investment although with strings attached. Nothing comes for free however the United States of Mexico has learnt that first hand from the big bully just north of their borders and has not been a favourable neighbour for the past few hundred years. So by plying wine and tequila to a foreign power maybe Mexico might get a more supportive investment from them.
As regards Ukraine, the Europeans and their erstwhile allies have cast their lot in with Ukraine so it’s unlikely to fail. They are seen as the underdog in this fight and have shown that they are a worthy adversary. In my opinion Putin’s days are numbered and if he had to capitulate or begin talks of peace or conciliation he will have to pass the baton onto someone else or be deposed or killed off. It’s unlikely that he will be shunted off to some island to soak his wounds.
Of course the Russian empire had possessions in America too, Alaska, Archangel and a couple of forts in Hawaii and California. The Red River wanders down through California.
It’s only a matter of time, challenging as that might sound and fascism was nearly achieved when trump tried his hand at it recently. It can’t be allowed to rear its ugly head again although ignorance has been a ploy of the reds in the US government. Keep them ignorant, poor and barefoot change the voting rights and remove the ballots. So blatant too!
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There’s no doubt that, whoever the dominant force in the world, violence will be had. There’s a ton of valid criticism of American foreign policy, post war. The invasions and occupations of Iraq and Vietnam chief among them. There’s plenty that should be commended too. And there should be regular conversations about where US military resources should be in the world, what the priorities are and where the red lines are drawn. But dismissing all US missions as part of the ‘forever wars’, as some do, is a lazy cop out. Like I say, American interests will not be best served by unilateral withdrawal from the world.
It’s tough to predict exactly how or when the Ukrainian war ends. Putin will happily send tens of millions to die if he’s allowed to do so. But he’s already screwed Russia over for decades to come.
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