[dralley]

Everyone wants to think there is always a "pragmatic" reason. It helps to think that there is always a rational cause for everything, every decision that is made. And we map cynicism about our own politicians onto everyone else, thinking that surely they don't mean what they say either.

There's not always a rational reason. Ideology and nationalism are real things. World leaders do not always act in "rational" ways, nor are they always playing 4D chess.

[RealityVoid]

Bingo! Trying to assign reason to emotional decisions is like reading tea leaves. And we're all subject to these emotional forces.

[dilyevsky]

On the contrary - i don't see the value in playing couch psychoanalyst when there's a perfectly legit realpolitik reason available.