I agree with many of your comments. Not much discussion of the events leading up to WWI and WWII. There are a lot of corollaries between 1939-1941 and today. John's frame of reference seems to be the last 25 years. In any event it was better than listening to Glenn and John discussing the pros and cons of affirmative action for another hour.
I'll check out Ferguson's book. After the past 5 years or so of strictly non-fiction I recently took a break and switched to fiction. I read "The Winds of War" by Herman Wouk almost 50 years ago and am just about through with rereading it (audible book this time). It's scary to think how history may be repeating itself.
Thought I've spent years studying issues related to the origins and history of the Cold War, I confess my ignorance about many of the specifics about fascist actions since WWII and how they affect overarching Ukrainian/Russian relations. I also appreciate that there are a host of cultural/political issues that arise from ethnic identities and ethnic conflicts in E. Europe since WWII. In the US, we have problems understanding the history of cultural conflict between racial groups and between Tribal identities. Thus who can claim confidence about understanding conflicts between ethnic/language groups in E.Europe and Ukraine?
Just as Europeans would have difficulty understanding conflicts between various "black" groups -- and between various Indian tribes, I think it is a stretch to assume we can easily understand cultural/religious/intellectual conflicts among tribes in the US, let alone severe political factions in both our major political parties. Seems it is NOT unreasonable to assume we face a similar problem trying to understand the complexities of the contemporary conflict. Before WWI, most had simple but 'valid' views about the 'enemy' --simple views about the forces of light and darkness. Four years later--and for decades since, simple views fail to impress or satisfy. JMHO.
I agree with many of your comments. Not much discussion of the events leading up to WWI and WWII. There are a lot of corollaries between 1939-1941 and today. John's frame of reference seems to be the last 25 years. In any event it was better than listening to Glenn and John discussing the pros and cons of affirmative action for another hour.
I'll check out Ferguson's book. After the past 5 years or so of strictly non-fiction I recently took a break and switched to fiction. I read "The Winds of War" by Herman Wouk almost 50 years ago and am just about through with rereading it (audible book this time). It's scary to think how history may be repeating itself.
Thought I've spent years studying issues related to the origins and history of the Cold War, I confess my ignorance about many of the specifics about fascist actions since WWII and how they affect overarching Ukrainian/Russian relations. I also appreciate that there are a host of cultural/political issues that arise from ethnic identities and ethnic conflicts in E. Europe since WWII. In the US, we have problems understanding the history of cultural conflict between racial groups and between Tribal identities. Thus who can claim confidence about understanding conflicts between ethnic/language groups in E.Europe and Ukraine?
Just as Europeans would have difficulty understanding conflicts between various "black" groups -- and between various Indian tribes, I think it is a stretch to assume we can easily understand cultural/religious/intellectual conflicts among tribes in the US, let alone severe political factions in both our major political parties. Seems it is NOT unreasonable to assume we face a similar problem trying to understand the complexities of the contemporary conflict. Before WWI, most had simple but 'valid' views about the 'enemy' --simple views about the forces of light and darkness. Four years later--and for decades since, simple views fail to impress or satisfy. JMHO.