GEOPOLITICS (educational purposes only)
OutdoorsSmoke_21191
Posts: 2,778 ✭✭✭✭✭
*****DISCLAIMER*** Please refrain from turning this into a political thread. *****
I’m fascinated with everything geopolitics. I’m solely interested learning more about the subject matter. Anything related to actual geopolitics is fair game.
I accidentally got started in geopolitics by way of studying war history. I’m not an expert by any means. I’m passionate about understanding (way too many things thanks to my pseudo OCD/ADHD quest for knowledge) what drives politics, economics, markets, etc etc (ripples upon ripples) of how, what, why, where and when influences war(s).
I won’t influence anyone with books I’ve read, authors/reporters I follow, podcasts I subscribe to, etc etc.
I’m solely interested in what YOU read, follow, listen to, watch so I may broaden my knowledge.
Please feel free to DM me instead of posting to avoid the obvious. I understand people’s insatiable need/desire to post random thoughts on others’ posts. I’m guilty as charged.
A good cigar and whiskey solve most problems.
Comments
@OutdoorsSmoke_21191
Geo..... Politics....... by definition, it's a political thread...... BRUH!
Edit: 😅😂🤣🥲🙃😘😉😝😜🧚🏿♀️🧵🍌🍆🎧📸💷💈📉✂️⬛️
"the hundred year marathon" - A book about China playing the long game.
Back in the day I used to listen to the various state-run short wave broadcasts. Voice of America was somewhat up-front about furthering American interests, other countries not so much (but it was obvious). Good introduction to propaganda.
The internet doesn't do that good a job of presenting various national points of view, especially with all the trolling infesting it. I have given up trying to understand geopolitical nuance and content myself with memes and taking a walk with a cigar.
If Chinese goods stop being consumed en mass by importing countries, China’s economy would topple. With the current age of millennial consumers, specifically in the 20-30’s, having about another decade to go, China better kick in hard, the last leg of the marathon. They’re economy isn’t great currently. They’re current workforce is aging rapidly concurrent with declining birth rates.
A good cigar and whiskey solve most problems.
Can I find some source that has access to archived short wave broadcasts?
A good cigar and whiskey solve most problems.
https://www.radioheritage.com/the-shortwave-radio-audio-archive-historical/
https://archive.org › details › sraa-various-shortwave-broadcasts-clips-from-the-1960s-recorded-by-wpe9jel-on-re
https://blog.archive.org › 2024 › 10 › 08 › shortwave-collection
Also, this listing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shortwave_radio_broadcasters
Interesting. I just bought a new portable radio for up in the shop. It has AM, FM, SW and a cassette player. Yes, really. Faye asked why I wanted the SW, I didn't have a good reason other than my Dad and his brother used to listen to bullfighting and baseball in Spanish when I was a kid, and I got fascinated with how far away the broadcasts come from. Haven't played with it yet, but, it's coming.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
None of that even matters cuz they can't feed their people, however, they are leveraging United States' interdependencies on the Chinese economy to sustain its own.
I used to drive a GEO.
Chevy labeled but made by Suzuki.
Three cylinder engine, manual transmission, got 47 & 1/2 miles per gallon.
Funny thing, I was going to be the first reply, saying China plays a long geo-political control/influence game, and the U.S. plays a "next election cycle" game.
China plays chess while America plays checkers?
I think it's quite obvious that China plays Chinese checkers.
I had one of those, couldn't kill it.
It absolutely matters. With china’s one child policy (birth rates have been lower and lower for decades) and massive industrialization has led to a massive push for immigration (mostly Germany and Canada) to shore up their shrinking workforce. Immigration won’t save their economy as they would need roughly 30+ million younger workers annually. So I stand on previous said decade of possible economic collapse. However, one caveat, they haven’t gotten this far without being resourceful.
A good cigar and whiskey solve most problems.
I’m curious what it is that Ukraine has to offer NATO that is so valuable to have the world feeling it is on the edge of nuclear war.
You mean besides a generation of young men for the meat grinder?
I'd have to consult the map, but forever Russia's #1 goal has been a sea port that's year 'round accessible. Does Ukraine have one? or, are they the path to one? After a few more cups of coffee, I could look into it, but probably will be otherwise engaged today.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
That’s the only thing I can come up with. Access to the Black Sea.
They do….one of their largest exports is agriculture. Somewhere between 3rd to 5th largest in the world. Probably google it. The U. S. is a big importer.
The main goal for Russia and china is to choke off the US economy and stock market. This is why we are seeing so much geopolitical realignment in the world. More smaller world countries economies are are weening off the American economic **** and opting for the newer or more enhanced economy versions.
China’s main push (there are many) for Taiwan is to control the straight. China then owns and sets international trade route rules and regulations. This is precisely why the arctic is so hot right now (again there are many). If Russia controls the barent straight and the newer sea routes, due to climate change and rapid declining ice, they will control shipping like never seen before. This route is half the distance of currently used trade routes. You’re talking billions and billions of dollars in not only savings but profits from other countries.
Russia has 5 ice breakers. China has 3 with more in production. We have two very old ones. Last I checked new production has yet to be voted for addition to the budget.
Thus two reasons (of many), agriculture and shipping trade routes, the economic strategic partnership between Russia and china.
Geopolitics is always about ancquisition of resources, securing military superiority and money all in the name of national interests and security.
A good cigar and whiskey solve most problems.
Google arctic economics, natural resources, trade relations etc. Plethora of information. I could post several links if anyone is interested.
A good cigar and whiskey solve most problems.
Ukraine doesn’t have a direct sea port. They have access to the Black Sea and that route leads to the Mediterranean through the Marmara sea. There is no direct route to open water and there are straits controlled by other nations. This is why I have stayed so confused as to what is so valuable.
Ukraine uses Odessa as its major port.
A good cigar and whiskey solve most problems.
Ukraine has 13 seaports and numerous river ports on the banks of Dnepr, the third largest river in Europe and the Boh River. Ukraine uses Odessa as its major port followed by several others. Each port has several exporting goods but each port has a specialized export, if that makes sense. For example Odessa is used mainly for agriculture. Mariupol is used primarily for coal and steel exports. Yes all ports are part of Black Sea route. Russia has control of both Odessa and Mariupol ports.
A good cigar and whiskey solve most problems.
This I understand; however Russia did not control Odessa until well after this conflict began. A conflict that began because of the push for Ukraine to join NATO. This is where my confusion is. Without the hardened push from certain European nations and our current administration for Ukraine to join NATO this conflict more than likely wouldn’t be happening. Russia had established a needed port through Crimea.
So I return to my original question. Why is there such a hardened push for Ukraine to join NATO?
If Bill Clinton hadn't assured Ukraine that we would protect them from future aggression, they would still have nuclear weapons and the war would have been avoided.
Don't let the wife know what you spend on guns, ammo or cigars.
If the promises made when the Berlin Wall came down and Russia finally left Germany (in 1995) were kept the war would have been avoided. The main promise being that the US would not back or support NATO moving further east, which has been continuously happening since said promises were made.
@Rdp77 i don’t follow Ukraine on the geopolitical scale as much as I should. The Russia invasion was in the works long before it actually invaded. But to answer your question regarding Ukraine joining nato…I can only surmise, as @d_blades eluded, it was probably accumulated backdoor deals agreed to, loosely base on being assured acceptance into nato. Pure here say, as I’m assuming.
A good cigar and whiskey solve most problems.
Kind of seems like a loaded question to me. What does Belgium have to offer? Turkey? Finland? The Netherlands?
I Say part of it is the lesson we learned in the '30s with our isolationism that resulted in the bombing of Pearl harbor and a madman overtaking a continent on the other side of the world and exterminating millions of people.
What did Kuwait have to offer us and why did we bother helping them against the fourth largest military in the entire world? What they had to offer us was an ally in a region where we didn't have and the prevention of the mistakes that we made in the 30s, for which we paid a dear price in the '40s.
Russia claims that this is about Ukraine's NATO membership, but that's a fukking smoke screen bro and we all know it or we should. What Russia needs in the Ukraine is their power and their agriculture, not to mention their population to replenish 60 years of declining ethnic Russians, who will likely become extinct as a people in two to five generations.
I don't know man. I'm an American who grew up during the Cold war. Any enemy of Russia is a friend of mine, but that's my old man syndrome talking. Putin is evil, perhaps as evil as Hitler himself. He's in bed with our adversaries like China and North Korea and Assad. What do we get out of helping Ukraine? We prevent the spread of the disease that is Russian geopolitics, which is an extension of our adversaries.
Some of this I can agree with and some not as much. Russia is no more in bed with China as a nation as we are. It’s just different capacities.
We were well “involved” in WWII before the bombing of Pearl Harbor by sending American pilots to China to fight the Japanese.
Kuwait was oil. We all know it or we should.
I definitely agree with the whole “the only good commie is a dead commie” outlook. But I also understand that once you back one so far into a corner they will come out swinging.
Belgium and the Netherlands helped conceive the whole NATO ideal. Turkey was a welcome addition because they control the strait leading from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean and then open ocean.
Sorry, I’m still not getting it.