First and foremost, this site and the news megathread's user base are not a monolith, and there are frequent discussions about who to support and to what degree. Nonetheless, we nearly universally acknowledge that the West's role in the world, through organizations such as NATO, the IMF, and the World Bank - among many others - are deeply harmful to the billions of people living both inside and outside of their imperial core, both militarily through wars of aggression and coups, and economic means, giving them unpayable loans, imposing austerity, and applying sanctions to keep these countries in permanent debt peonage. These organizations constitute the modern imperial order, with the United States at its heart - we are not fooled by the term "rules-based international order." It is in the Left's interest for these organizations to be demolished. When and how this will occur, and what precisely comes after, is the cause of great debate and discussion on this site, but it is necessary for a better world.

Our position on Russia's invasion of Ukraine is also varied. Given that we believe that NATO must lose, many of us generally critically - emphasis on critically - support Russia in the conflict. However, it is important to understand that this conflict was not pre-destined and could have been avoided if NATO had not continued to advance toward Russia over the preceding decades. NATO provoked Russia into this conflict as they could not accept another major power on the European continent; they wished to destroy Russia economically and politically to take over and then loot the country for cheap resources; and to put further pressure on China, the West's true enemy. They have turned Ukraine into their shield - a shield that is becoming ever more battered and bloody.

Ukraine is not innocent, plagued by fascist paramilitaries with a very significant degree of de facto power over the country. The media can hardly take a photo of Ukrainian troops without catching one with a tattoo of a Nazi slogan or symbol. The media has additionally tried to suggest that these paramilitaries are not fascist or do not have any power, or if they were fascist, then they were purified soon after the war began, and only non-fascists remain. These are blatant falsehoods, and none of us are fooled. Suggesting that the country cannot be fascist because they have a Jewish head of state makes as much sense as suggesting that Americans were not racist while Obama was president. Stepan Bandera, a fascist collaborator with Nazi Germany, has been increasingly elevated to the status of national hero by right-wing groups inside Ukraine, while his history has been muddled and deliberately obfuscated.

The US-backed coup in 2014 has led directly to the war, with pro-Russians inside Ukraine being killed horrifically in Odessa and the shooting of protestors blamed on government forces. This led to the overthrow of Yanukovych, who was regarded as a Russian stooge after he received a superior economic deal from Russia compared to Europe, which was intolerable to the West. He was then replaced by the pro-western leader Poroshenko, who was then replaced by Zelensky. After the annexation of Crimea - which the overwhelming majority of the Crimean population is satisfied with even according to Western sources - Russia attempted to find a diplomatic solution to the fighting in the Donbass for 8 years while separatists inside Ukraine were being killed by the thousands, solutions to which Western leaders, by their own admission, only agreed to buy time for NATO to arm Ukraine. We can only conclude that the West was preparing Ukraine for their battle with Russia as part of a long-term strategy to weaken and destroy them, and it is utterly understandable why the Russian government found this intolerable and felt forced to act. Putin did not invade Ukraine because he was stupid, evil, misinformed, hungry for power, hungry for territory, wanted to rebuild the USSR, or any combination of the above - he even expressed his desire to join NATO in the early 2000s! Instead, this is the consequence of three decades of NATO marching their military forces towards Russia's doorstep. The universe did not begin on February 24th, 2022, and historical context here, as in every situation, is mandatory if you want to form quality analyses. Arguments that do not acknowledge history will get you laughed at here.

We do not attempt to excuse or justify all of Russia's actions in the conflict. Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave the country - many went to Russia, for what it's worth - which has been incredibly damaging to those people's lives. The electrical grid has been targeted, creating immense hardship for the people inside Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. We do not, however, think of these actions as genocide, as we do not want to diminish the term. Suppose you strongly oppose this invasion for its cruelty and thus support the West. In that case, it is worth looking at any of the wars which had involvement by the United States and NATO (Yugoslavia, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, etc.), even limiting yourself to the last few decades, and comparing the deaths, destruction, and long term consequences. Doing so is not "whataboutism", it is basic principled consistency. Putin is not a fundamentally evil person - and, indeed, many people inside Russia openly criticize him for not being even tougher on Ukraine. The average Russian is also not to blame for the conflict, and certainly not an "orc" or subhuman in any way. We do not tolerate calling anybody on either side of the conflict these terms or similar.

Lastly, we as a site have many people in the LGBTQIA+ community. As such, we unequivocally denounce the reactionary language used and laws enacted by many people and countries in the anti-Western bloc, such as Russia, Iran, certain African countries, etc. It is important to note that some countries in this bloc are experiencing generally positive trends toward social progress - such as Cuba and Venezuela. It is also important to note that some countries in the Western bloc have either never favored LGBTQIA+ rights or are sliding away from those rights (such as in the UK, USA, and others with right-wing governments in Europe). Reactionary policy is neither pre-destined nor permanent, and with a combination of economic and social development, the weakening of repressive religious structures, and the ascendancy of left-wing governments, among other factors, the conditions of people in the LGBTQIA+ movement and the wider population can be meaningfully improved inside even the most hopeless countries today.