I'm mostly asking on behalf of a comrade who is somewhat new to leftism. My own knowledge is only surface level, which is why I’m turning to Hexbear.

Could I get a rundown of the reasons for the conflict, for someone who only knows the basic Western position of "Russia bad" ? I’m not trying to say modern Russia is good, but there are reasons for this conflict, and it's much more nuanced than how it's presented in Western media, correct?

Any input from fellow Hexbears, sources, etc., is welcome. I truly appreciate the help.

  • CantaloupeAss [comrade/them]
    ·
    1 month ago

    I can give a short, high-level assessment and I'm sure other hexbears will come with more sources etc. but:

    NATO was designed to be an anticommunist military alliance to weigh against the SSRs in post-WWII Europe. Its anti-Russian attitude has maintained beyond the collapse of USSR, as Russia has continued to be a regional power outside of neolib control.

    Because Russia has not completely capitulated to the neoliberal, globalist world order represented by NATO, the EU, and the USA, NATO seeks to defang Russia through economic ruin and by recruiting its neighbors to basically instantly start a nuclear WWIII if Russia acts in a geopolitical way that the NWO (neolib world order) does not approve.

    Russia, for its part, does not want 20+ countries' armies and nukes pointing directly at its western border. Russia is also compelled to protect ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine, who have been under persecution and assault for the last ten years.

    Now to be dunked on for my own rudimentary understandingheadshot