Thank you for the reply. I did not mean to imply that I thought Trump was deliberately creating a mess in Afghanistan to leave it for Biden. On the contrary, I think that had Trump been elected he would have ended up being the one to reap that whirlwind - it was just bad policy and only a consequence of timing and the election result that it blew up on Biden's watch. Also a massive intelligence failure.
I agree with you that NATO expansion back in the day was probably not the wisest course, but I still think Putin reacts less out of responding to threat and more out of the desire to rebuild a fallen empire.
One of the craziest things to think about is that back a couple of decades ago, there was serious thought about allowing Russia to JOIN an expanded NATO, even after Putin was first elected but before he showed his true colors.
Yes, the idea things might have still gone sour had Trump been elected cannot be dismissed, although I doubt things overall would have turned out like they did. We will have to see what the future holds.
On your second point, quite so on both counts.
Yes, there were a lot of attempts at cooperation back then. I personally met with senior reps from Lavochkin to explore the possibility of a joint venture I had proposed. They gave us a briefing on the state of things in Russia at the time that was entirely eye opening. They also happened to be staying near where I lived, so I gave them a ride to their hotel. They showered me with gifts in return, including a bar of Russian chocolate. It was a fascinating experience. In the end, nothing came of it and that era (as I've heard) is not recalled fondly in Russia these days, for understandable reasons.
I have some memory of that (Russia joining NATO), though I never got the impression it was especially serious. You may be better informed than myself on that topic as my focus had shifted by that time, but I do recall a desire to enlist Russia's aid in the GWOT, and some overtures to that end. There seemed to be a spike in alarm after Beslan over Russia's possible response, but it faded (at least as far as I was aware) and Basayev's eventual death closed the issue. Around the time, awareness of Putin's true colors (as you say) I think was growing and became clear by 2008.
But I am being prolix now, and will close. You responses are appreciated, and as always, thanks again to Glenn.
Thank you for the reply. I did not mean to imply that I thought Trump was deliberately creating a mess in Afghanistan to leave it for Biden. On the contrary, I think that had Trump been elected he would have ended up being the one to reap that whirlwind - it was just bad policy and only a consequence of timing and the election result that it blew up on Biden's watch. Also a massive intelligence failure.
I agree with you that NATO expansion back in the day was probably not the wisest course, but I still think Putin reacts less out of responding to threat and more out of the desire to rebuild a fallen empire.
One of the craziest things to think about is that back a couple of decades ago, there was serious thought about allowing Russia to JOIN an expanded NATO, even after Putin was first elected but before he showed his true colors.
Yes, the idea things might have still gone sour had Trump been elected cannot be dismissed, although I doubt things overall would have turned out like they did. We will have to see what the future holds.
On your second point, quite so on both counts.
Yes, there were a lot of attempts at cooperation back then. I personally met with senior reps from Lavochkin to explore the possibility of a joint venture I had proposed. They gave us a briefing on the state of things in Russia at the time that was entirely eye opening. They also happened to be staying near where I lived, so I gave them a ride to their hotel. They showered me with gifts in return, including a bar of Russian chocolate. It was a fascinating experience. In the end, nothing came of it and that era (as I've heard) is not recalled fondly in Russia these days, for understandable reasons.
I have some memory of that (Russia joining NATO), though I never got the impression it was especially serious. You may be better informed than myself on that topic as my focus had shifted by that time, but I do recall a desire to enlist Russia's aid in the GWOT, and some overtures to that end. There seemed to be a spike in alarm after Beslan over Russia's possible response, but it faded (at least as far as I was aware) and Basayev's eventual death closed the issue. Around the time, awareness of Putin's true colors (as you say) I think was growing and became clear by 2008.
But I am being prolix now, and will close. You responses are appreciated, and as always, thanks again to Glenn.