To start with, it would be good if EU, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand banned visits/residence for russian citizen until russia leaves all occupied territories, hands over all war criminals and provides financial compensation for all damage.
With a explicit notice that they are welcome to play the victim and talk about alleged "russophobia"; this is not going to work.
Realistically, a change in attitudes would require other measures, but this would be a start.
That's not true. The beginning of the invasion of Ukraine started with the annexation of Crimea in 2014. This was supported by 84% of the population (consistent across 7 years of polling 2014 to 2021). Even with list experiments to account for preference falsification, the support number largely stays the same at 80%.
And support for the full scale invasion was at 65% in 2022 even with preference falsification adjustments.
And then there is the matter of the russian population: 1. electing a KGB goon in 2000 (considered largely free and fair) 2. Reelecting the KGB goon after he shut down mass market independent media (also free and fair) 3. Supporting the comical Medvedev seat warming plan in 2008 4. Electing putin as leader for life in 2012.
Don't get me wrong, I agree you that Western support has been very weak (if funding is an issue, there was 550 billion in russian assets) and failed to effectively challenge russia.
It's not just putin though, it is at the very least a strong majority of russian population who are supporters of genocidal imperialism.
And this holds true across every demographic segement (age, income, rural vs. urban, education).
Good catch. :) Almost like Freudian slip of sorts.
While my assumption is that Trump will stop all aid, comply meekly with putin's demands and then attempt to market this to Americans as a "great success" and a sign that he is a "great negotiator", I do wonder if putin risks overplaying his hand. While Trump is a coward and an authoritarian, he does seem to be sensitive to anything that makes him look weak.
Funny how Francis doesn't hold the same level of humanitarian concern when it comes to the actions of the russians (not only in Ukraine, but also in multiple African countries, Syria, Georgia).
He was actually caught prasing russian imperialism.
Russian society; the choices russians make.
You cannot make any progress or claim to want to change russia's political environment if refuse to admit these facts.
Instead we get victim-hood polemics, bullshit about "the west is actually to blame" or "NATO made us do this!", almost threat-like statements saying that discussing these facts will only make things worse and comical bullshit about russophpobia (a concept that does not exist, when you act as a lying, murderous, scoundrel, you should expect people to treat you like shit, if you don't like this then change).
Do you have something to say or are you "just asking questions"?
I am just curious, do you speak russian? Have you ever lived there? Can you state 3 bullet points about key developments in russia in the decade of 1900 (or say 1920) without doing a web search?
While Kara-Murza is one of the few somewhat humane members of the russian opposition (Ilya Yashin is a piece of shit and Navalniy and his thugs are racist, corrupt imperialists), like all of them he is completely delusional, refuses to recognize reality and keeps playing the victim.
He once again repeats the canard that it is impossible to measure public opinion in russia as an excuse for society's broad support for the war. This is false, there are polling methods such as list experiments that account for preference falsification and they align with "regular" polls; a strong (if not overwhelming) majority of russians are genocidal imperialists.
But he also claims that somehow we should trust his statement that there are lots of people russia that are against the war because "hundreds of thousands" supported an allegedly anti-war candidate (what exactly is his "anti-war" position?).
He then goes on to say "reconciliation [between russians and Ukrainians] is possible" but a under different political regime. And how will this different regime come about? What are you doing to make it happen, Mr Kara-Murza?
I also don't believe in reconciliation. My animosity towards all russian is permanent, but that's just my personal opinion. Reconciliation would require that russians take ownership for their actions (it is their society that is responsible, it is not only putin that is a genocidal imperialist) and make a clear commitment to right the wrongs that they did (ending all russian occupation - not only in Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of russians prosecuted for war crimes and full financial compensation).
There is nothing to suggest this will happen. The russians have the capability to do this, there is nothing "inherent" about their genocidal imperialism. But they don't want to do take ownership for their crimes.
Kara-Murza then goes on to claim that russia is on the precipice of change, without providing any specifics or explaining what the russian oppositions' game plan is.
We then hear some typical russian victimhood narratives about how the west is to blame (ignoring that by early 90s russia was already engaged in imperialism in Moldova and Georgia).
Some more BS about how taking a sober attitude towards russia and recognizing that it is not only putin to blame is very wrong and "a gift to putin".
The interviewer of course never challenges Kara-Murza in any substantive manner, as is typical with western media interviewing russian opposition.
Kara-Murza is the epitome of why the russian opposition is such a comical failure. Magical thinking, constant victimhood and zero desire to focus on the root cause of russian genocidal imperialism and authoritarianism.
You still get people who think anime is "cartoons", but they tend to be older.
I feel like around ~20 years ago is when anime started entering the mainstream.
“There’s never been a more exciting time to be an anime fan, and we are strategically feeding a pipeline of anime content and experiences that fuels that fandom, deepens the love of anime, and exposes more audiences to the medium,” the company said. “The Crunchyroll business is outperforming our financial expectations, and the company is well positioned to continue to grow alongside the rising global demand for anime.”
We live in interesting times. ~20 years ago I would have never imagined such a statement.
"Fascism, that's not a word that regular people, you know, use, you know?" Fetterman said
A fascinating perspective.
VOA is a better source than most private news agencies in the US, even though it is a government service.