>>2235269I don't support the SMO. I'm saying that there's a complex situation inside Russia. Russia is really fighting itself but imagines what it's doing as fighting against the West. The underlying reason for the war is to be found inside Russia itself, in the internal contradictoriness of Russian society.
There are a lot of ironies and contradictions to the war. For example, in order to counter the West, Russia will make enemies out of once-fraternal countries at a high cost in blood. To use an analogy, let's say you seduce a girl in your neighborhood, then her father-in-law kills her in a rage. The West technically speaking has experienced no losses in this war (other than a few adventure-seeking mercenaries).
The whole thing is irrational and I've come to think historically it's kind of an accident. The Mearsheimer types saying Russia is acting rationally are totally wrong. The U.S. has been pivoting to the Pacific to counter China, so from a security perspective, Russia's situation was actually improving. But Putin's own personal approval ratings were declining. His ratings were higher in 2004 when the Orange Revolution in Ukraine happened and Putin did nothing. That tells you something about Putin's interests and motivations.
But people supporting Putin when the country is under a kind of "siege" from the West (sanctions etc.) is not surprising, and the notion of a strong leader and special, cosmic or messianic mission for Russia is deeply rooted in the national psychology and what constitutes Russian patriotism. Territorial expansionism by military conquest is imagined as a path to restore Russia's greatness and sense of subjectivity. Even though this is aggressive, the supporters of the war think this is good not just for Russia but the world because of their special mission.