A historical precedent would be the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. After years of overspending on defence, a protracted war there where the USSR was completely bogged down pretty much finished their economy off.
The U.S. helped by creating a little known fighting force called the “mujahideen” which later mutated into what we now call Alqaida and the Taliban.
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Also, I can’t read or hear the word “Mujahideen” without thinking of this scene
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I bet they regretted those arms sales when those very same weapons were used against them 20 years later.
Nahh, I’m sure Halliburton, BAE, Lockheed, Boeing and all of the other weapons manufacturers were delighted that their cash cow from the 70’s was still paying dividends. Dead civilians and soldiers are good for business.
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That scene is so fucking funny.
That whole film in general is incredibly funny.
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We really need an oil alternative (that doesn’t introduce new problems) to kill off multiple world political issues.
Great news
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Without bothering to read the article does this mean it takes 90% of the money to blow things up and 10% to put things back together again .
Still think it would be easier to find a Russian Claus Von Stauffenberg to finish the job off.
It’s probably partly the fact that the more that’s spent on defence, the less future stuff is likely to be blown up and therefore need putting back together again…
I also have not yet read the full article
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Can’t really start the rebuild if the Russians are still blowing stuff up.
Although this is also definitely political signalling for the Russians lol
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The summit for peace in Switzerland has closed, with international support ‘not weakening’ with the final document that was adopted blaming the war’s widespread suffering and destruction firmly on Russia, and rightly so.
Interesting to read that India, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia who attended the summit, did not sign it and China were absent.
It is becoming very clear which countries we should be distancing ourselves from. China and Saudi are not a surprise, but India is increasingly becoming a worry and should be viewed with caution by the west going forward.
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Countries are like individuals only on a grandiose scale do they compete out of greed, pride and power.
China and India are completely different cultures and nations, exceeding white western civilizations by a good margin in the length that theirs exist.
You are looking at everything purely from a western civilization perspective and that is fair enough. But you will always see peoples across the world resisting western (read: US) hegemony for a variety of reasons.
Japan are literally the only non-white nation and they got nuclear bombed into submission, what else did you think the G6 white nations would vote for? Every single one of them is a de facto vassal of the US.
Russia and Ukraine is a power struggle that Putin cannot afford to lose and my view he will win it. Counter offensive went nowhere for more than one year, manpower is in Russia’s numerical favour. Russia went full war time economy. Sanctions are not having the intended effect after 2 years.
Not much of a peace summit if it closes with an official communication that one of the sides in conflict are terrible and not a lot else 
Don’t be silly, India global superpower and is a massive geopolitical ally to the West. UK in particular should be doing everything to strengthen ties.
If India want to take advantage of Putin by bilking heavily discounted gas and oil, that’s their preoperative as a sovereign nation. I don’t have an issue.
The war in Ukraine is not that important in global terms at all, certainly not to the point the west should alienate a nuclear power who actively opposes Iran and China
You can’t expect India to partake in the collective economic downfall from the poor diplomatic relationship between Russia, Ukraine and NATO. India doesn’t have the economic luxury to take a moral high ground.
If that were the case, Why is any nation doing any deals with Chainsaw murderer Saudi Arabia?
Besides the economy, India must also have leverage against China & Pakistan. China has been slowly encroaching on Indian territories. To avoid escalation, India has ended up with quite a large landmass under China’s military governance, so much so China has published maps with Indian territories labelled as Chinese.
Just like the West is concerned by Russian activities and needs their allies to fend off Russians, We need allies against China & Pakistan, which means sleeping in bed with the likes of Russia, Afghanistan, etc - no matter how much it sucks.
It has become extremely clear with Israel-Palestine & Russia-Ukraine that no nations or UN will step in to put a lid on any escalation. If India ends up with any war with China or Pakistan, no nation will come in and intervene. Rather, they will wait for months before drafting this so-called “Summit for Peace”.
There is no incentive for India at all in this.
India has no history of unprovoked aggression against any country. At worst, the country will take a neutral stance or give a naval base to its allies.
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I don’t disagree with a lot you say, but when it comes to Ukraine the reality is the Russia haven’t made progress either. Ukraine have held them back and as long as the West continue to back them (without the US IF Trump is re-elected later this year) I think that will continue to be the case.
Russia’s plan is clear - happy to talk peace if Ukraine accepts the territory occupied by Russia is annexed to Russia and Ukraine agree not to accept NATO membership. Those terms are simply not acceptable.
The only way to stop this Russian aggression for them to lose in Ukraine. The whole of Europe need to help push them back, and once the war is won, Ukraine need to be allowed to become a full member of NATO. Then we help rebuild the country and continue to apply sanctions on Russia.
I don’t think the aim was to achieve a peace deal as Russia wasn’t invited. But it does seem to have consolidated the support for Ukraine which is welcomed.
I have a problem with a so called ally, helping to fund Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. It is absolutely their decision to do so as a sovereign nation, but then the rest of Europe should take note of this and maybe consider who to trade with in the future. The sooner Europe realise that they need to stop fuelling the economies of China and India, particularly when both are working against the interests of Europe, the better.
I don’t agree with you here - India is becoming an economic giant so it can absolutely make a decision. Helping to fund Russia only helps India in the short term only.
I do agree with the rest of your statements about China though and the aggression they are showing. That’s why it is also important that Ukraine win the war with the support of the West to show China that they will step in IF they seek to expand their borders.
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I would take this statement far more seriously if European countries didn’t fund Russia with 38 billion (for trade goods) in 2023.
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