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Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Add to the above list if you can, thank you.

Resources For Understanding The War Beyond The Bulletins

Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map, who is an independent youtuber with a mostly neutral viewpoint.

Moon of Alabama, which tends to have good analysis (though also a couple bad takes here and there)

Understanding War and the Saker: neo-conservative sources but their reporting of the war (so far) seems to line up with reality better than most liberal sources.

On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent journalist reporting in the Ukrainian warzones.

Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.

Yesterday's discussion post.

  • SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him]M43•2 years ago

    Anti-Americanism is blinding Chinese policy

    You've gotta be kidding me. God, I wish I could make this shit up, I'd be so much funnier.

    China’s unhealthy obsession with Americans is putting its goal of overtaking them at risk.

    With roughly five times the U.S. population and a powerful manufacturing sector, the world’s second-largest economy aspires to take the top spot. Momentum is in question, however. Although Chinese growth accelerated 4.8% in the first quarter while the United States contracted, President Xi Jinping nevertheless ordered officials to ensure that domestic GDP outpaces the United States in 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported. That would imply he’s worried China might not only miss its 5.5% annual target, but even slow below the 3% or so analysts expect from the United States.

    American growth did exceed China’s by over 2 percentage points in the final quarter of last year, but the People’s Republic has consistently outgrown its rival on an annual basis. However, as its ability to boost GDP through investment weakens, the gap has narrowed and official figures look increasingly fluffy. Take the first quarter: the property sector, driving up to a third of output, is stalled, while draconian lockdowns have repressed consumption, yet after adjusting for inflation officials delivered a rosy reading.

    Beijing’s assumption of inevitable conflict is producing a vicious cycle, aggravated by Washington’s tariffs and sanctions against China’s corporate champions. Even so, there is an excess of paranoia. The crackdown on New York-listed technology firms like Didi Global (DIDI.N) is driven by concerns that Americans might somehow steal sensitive data. Officials are willing to risk a recession to eliminate Covid-19 within the borders to show up American epidemiological incompetence. Endorsing Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine will hurt local companies, but state media justify the sacrifice by arguing Moscow’s support is necessary to prevent Washington from “splitting China into puzzle pieces”.

    Infrastructure spending combined with data fudging - artful reweighting of inputs and prices, for example – will prop up China’s stats this year. But that borrows from future growth. The economy needs to expand at around 4.8% per year to meet Xi’s tacit goal of doubling GDP by 2035. A debt crisis or prolonged crackdowns on the private sector would wreck that plan.

    At the same time China’s most pressing problems – a sagging birthrate, falling productivity, a wasteful state sector – are not byproducts of American hegemony, nor can they be outgrown. Competition is healthy, but insecurity is a tax.

    This has critical levels of copium. How the fuck did this breach containment?

    • Fishroot [none/use name]37•2 years ago

      There is a book called the “chinese mirage” that talks about the diplomatic failure because we created an idea of china via think tanks /china specialists that act like yes men for the people who pay them

      • a_fanonist_hexagon [he/him]29•2 years ago

        There's another book called Washington's China that's basically a history of the national security elites and their misinformed ideological viewpoint as regards the People's Republic

        • Fishroot [none/use name]13•2 years ago

          Tbh the post capitalism realism where the consumption is able to influence politics and also human behaviour is fascinating. In a sense the product that those think tanks is selling is basically a false premise where the people who sponser the think tanks is not there to get a real analysis of the situation but more to get what is the good analysis(product) they want

      • Foolio [any]27•2 years ago

        Same thing happened with Russia, which is how you got the "gas station with a country" quips and UK leaders stating that they would never recognize Russia's sovereignty over actual provinces of Russian Federation

        Big issue in general in politics is that the people who report on it and "develop" policy believe their own farts over actual fact-finding or analysis. Thete's a quote from an Obama official that goes like "newspapers used to have foreign bureaus all over the world to get news on foreign affairs. Now they just ask us. The average international reporter is a 27 year old that knows nothing".

        • SadStruggle92 [none/use name]9•2 years ago

          Thete’s a quote from an Obama official that goes like “newspapers used to have foreign bureaus all over the world to get news on foreign affairs. Now they just ask us. The average international reporter is a 27 year old that knows nothing”.

          Y'know I remember years ago reading that print-newspaper was more or less dying as a medium because of intensely low profit margins, and I can't help but imagine that that's a big contributor to this.

          • blight [any]6•2 years ago

            low profit margins

            hmm i wonder if someone may have written about why this happens at some point in time