[starwind]

I wouldn't say Roberts's arguments are splitting hairs, I'd say he's turning the whole thing around and saying Putin interpreted every Western action in the worst light possible, Russia decided that Ukraine was its domain, and the West and Ukraine had the right to define their own relations.

Mearsheimer's argument boils down to: Russia thinks it has the right to do what it wants in Eastern Europe, and the West caused this problem by not saying "ok."

Putin violated the Bucharest Memorandum by moving into Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Russia created this mess.

[leobg]

You are arguing like the man whose wife wants to divorce him, and who concludes that the only way to stop the divorce would be to give in to every demand his wife ever makes, which is clearly unacceptable. Every marriage counselor will tell you: What escalates conflict is not so much “not giving in“, but “not listening“. Mearsheimer’s argument, in other words, is not that West needs to do everything Putin ever says. Instead, his argument is that the West is provoking Putin by treating him as if he is not to be taken serious, and as if Russia as a country is not to be taken serious.