Originally Posted by
etudiant
.... From the outside, NATO seems to be on an offensive, pushing bases and joint exercises ever closer to the Russian frontier. What is gained by this?
For the reason behind this I believe you need to take a detailed look at the rise of Putin and what has been going on, both military and, more significantly, economically in Russia since the 1990s .... and even before! A very important element is the concept/value of the "near abroad" to the Kremlin. The start of the link below is a very simplified summary - it is what Russia has continually been up to over the decades that illustrates the true value/importance of the "near abroad" to them which is outside the scope of the link.
To an extent, the reaction by the West to what Russia was doing in it's "near abroad" was very slow in coming - the euphoria of the "Peace Dividend" etc rather took the West's eyes off the game being played out in Russia wrt the old Soviet Union. And the Russian's reach is now rather more Global (economically) as well - a very interesting "opportunistic" game being played out by Putin et al. Even old Trump links back into organised Russian crime and that is probably the only reason he was still around (by that I mean as someone who could become a Political figure!) to become POTUS! Even that is a fascinating story in itself!!! Anyway, the link .....
https://www.memri.org/reports/near-a...foreign-policy
Originally Posted by
etudiant
.... Meanwhile, China is eating everyone's lunch and we are pushing Russia into China's arms by ongoing sanctions.
Are we sure that this is a sensible policy?
And, interestingly, the article also covers this as it's "Part B".
The link should not be treated as a total explanation particularly re the various relationships to the West of Russia - it's just a top-level summary; for the detail there are a couple of good books which chart what has been going on since even before the Wall came down in '89. Read into it and then decide for yourself is the best way. And, yes, Russia will "use" China but how far they trust each other is another question. Note to self - something else to dig into!