The Logic of Appropriateness

 On 24 February 2022, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine. 

In this podcast episode of ChinaTalk, Adam Tooze suggests (and I agree) that if Putin had succeeded in a Blitzkrieg conquest of Ukraine, then protests in the West would have been muted. However, the courage exhibited by the Ukrainian President, the stubborn resistance put up by the Ukrainian population, and the slow progress of the Russians who seem to have repeated the mistake of the USA in Iraq, of expecting to be welcomed as liberators rather than invaders, all have won the loud sympathy of voters in the West. The politicians are forced to respond, or look weak and craven. 

Some of the decisions have been very sensible. Germany will be increasing its defense budget, which will help make Europe more independent of the USA. A huge push for renewable energy may result, and oddly enough this may be the one thing which saves us from Global Warming. 

But the Western response is becoming increasingly disproportionate and reckless. It seems they have learned nothing from the experience in Iraq. Young Russian soldiers are disoriented, unprepared, and unwilling to fight. Brave Russians have been protesting the war right near the Kremlin. But the West have gone into  self-righteous anger. The USA has punished the Russian economy with a viciousness previously seen in the case of Iran and Venezuela. The racism on display has been outrageous. French ministers are stating as a fact that they will destroy the Russian economy.

This thread seems to offer at least a vocabulary for what is going on. Essay here. 

Meanwhile the Russian army may be preparing to ratchet up the violence.