Cold war 2.0

[Virtual ghost]

That's been my thinking as well. And based on my cursory search just now, it appears that Finland already spends about 2% of their GDP on defense like NATO members are supposed to, whereas Sweden is significantly below that. So it seems like Finland would be able to hit the ground running, so to speak.

If you are a neutral independent country and you have Russia literally next door then it is wise to have prepared defense force. Especially if you already had quite bad experiences with that neighbor. I was watching a documentary about all this in my local channels and up there they are for decades kinda preparing for what in the end happened in Ukraine. Therefore they didn't want to talk too much about NATO because of fears that this might trigger the war. Which in the end happened but a few hundred miles to the south. Therefore now it is perfect opportunity to get into NATO, since Russia is distracted. If Finland gets in that is what matters, Sweden is basically shielded by Finland. Which is fully ready member but it doesn't have that formal NATO stamp. Letting them in is basically pure "Calling spade a spade".

And it looks like Slovakia will be joining in: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/slovakias-mig-29s-are-officially-heading-to-ukraines-air-force

Yeah I saw that. I mean this is election year there and Russia friendly people have a shot at winning. So if you want to give something away now is probably the time. After all ending the war will evidently have impact on election results. For governing parties it would really matter that the mess next door end as soon as possible. While "We WON!!!" never gets old in this regard.

 

[Virtual ghost]

 

[Virtual ghost]

Cold war in full display.


Facing China, Manila cozies up to US

N. Korea fires ballistic missile amid US-South Korea drills

Germany and Japan underline mutual interests in Tokyo

Vatican shuts embassy in Nicaragua in row with Ortega

 

[ceecee]

Cold war in full display.


Facing China, Manila cozies up to US

N. Korea fires ballistic missile amid US-South Korea drills

Germany and Japan underline mutual interests in Tokyo

Vatican shuts embassy in Nicaragua in row with Ortega

I find the Vatican/Nicaragua situation wild.

 

[Virtual ghost]

I find the Vatican/Nicaragua situation wild.

Why ?
I mean the struggle between the two makes sense. It is not desirable option but it makes sense.

 

[ceecee]

Why ?
I mean the struggle between the two makes sense. It is not desirable option but it makes sense.

It's wild to see a government actually doing this. Sure it's dictatorial but I get it.

 

[Virtual ghost]

In short: how one of the most centrist and technocratic countries turned to right wing populism.

Macron faces no-confidence votes amid nationwide protests


While in France centrists are also under severe pressure.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Why Xi Jinping is still Vladimir Putin’s best friend

Provocative Putin makes surprise trip to occupied Mariupol

Syria's Assad visits UAE as Arab isolation eases

 

[Virtual ghost]

 

[Virtual ghost]

Let’s not make it official: NATO allies reluctant to increase spending goals

But what is interesting here are charts and numbers at the end.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Beyond TikTok, Dutch tell government staff to uninstall Chinese, Russian apps

France’s arms heartland tiptoes into the war economy

Ukraine updates: Japan PM Kishida arrives in Kyiv

 

[Virtual ghost]

‘Absolutely a quick study’: Ukrainians master Patriot system faster than expected

Cut off by Europe, Putin pins hopes on powering China instead

The Wall of China stands behind Putin

'Pandora’s box': EU weighs changing relations with China

Spain's PM Sanchez survives no-confidence vote

In Northern Ireland, businesses want to move on from Brexit

Brussels can’t keep easterners from top jobs forever, Estonian PM says

 

[Virtual ghost]

 

[SD45T-2]

Signs Point To Russia Sending Ancient T-54 Series Of Tanks To Ukraine

T-54 and T-55 tanks, designed in the 1940s, have been taken from storage and have been sighted on the move in Russia.

www.thedrive.com

I guess the next phase will be taking T-34s from WWII monuments, and then perhaps horses after that.

 

[Red Herring]

Signs Point To Russia Sending Ancient T-54 Series Of Tanks To Ukraine

T-54 and T-55 tanks, designed in the 1940s, have been taken from storage and have been sighted on the move in Russia.

www.thedrive.com

I guess the next phase will be taking T-34s from WWII monuments, and then perhaps horses after that.

You mean these guys?

 

[Virtual ghost]

You mean these guys?

Actually this is how the army of Russian empire looked like. Therefore if you want to remake the empire these are the guys that should do the trick. :duh:





But yeah, it seems that Russia will spend pretty much everything they have in Ukraine. Therefore once they spend that the frontline will crash. In a sense it is no wonder that China now wants peace. Since they are smart enough to realize that peace is the only way Russia will keep any territory (or everything will just to nuclear). Therefore if Russia loses that will almost surely destabilize the country fundamentally and that means that China will lose it's main ally on the world stage. What would make it much harder to pressure the west and supply/support various little regimes around the world that are their outposts. This war really is about whatever the east or the west will have domino effect collapse. This is basically WW3 concentrated inside one country, since the owners of the most of world's GDP are sending help to one of the sides.

 

[Virtual ghost]

After Macron, le déluge

France burns in overnight protests

King Charles’ visit scrapped as France burns


Serious mess in France. However this is the product of ignoring the problems for years.
Plus it must be said that in Europe there seems to be growing tide against libertarian right when you take a wider picture. Macron is quite unpopular, in Netherlands they just got some serious slaps in local elections. In Germany they are half of what they used to be in the polls just at the start of current mandate. In Greece no such party is expected to win a single seat in upcoming elections. Similar is in Spain, with just 2% of support that probably wouldn't result in seats in the upcoming elections. Denmark 30% drop over the last year in polls. Latvia 50% drop since last summer. In Italy they made a coalition of libertarian right parties and got 7% of the vote, not unexpected but not much either. My main such party for decades has started to hit pure 0% in polls. Therefore the finances will crash the party completely if situation stays like this (and it probably will). Romania 30% drop over the last 2 years. In Sweden they need coalition with nationalists since they just don't have the numbers. Not everything is lost but the new era isn't really on their side. The end of globalization as we know it due to the new cold war has basically destroyed the ideological foundations of this political block. I mean many are just tired of deregulating everything: the culture, the economy, the borders .... etc. After all collective security or strict planning is more fit for the problems of today, which are far from trivial.

 

[Virtual ghost]

China threatens 'serious consequences' over US warship

India: Opposition's Rahul Gandhi barred from parliament

 

[The Cat]

 

[Virtual ghost]