The big lesson is that without acknowledging a historical Russian sphere of interest and thoughtlessly expanding NATO and EU with confused democratization goals pursued by a military alliance, is what has led to today.
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Post-Communist weakened Russia has reverted to its historical mean: using Eastern Europe as a buffer to preserve a sense of security wrt to open land border with West that has been vulnerable since Napoleon. NATO expansion under Clinton naively assumed democracy = peace.
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There was no Marshall Plan style economic component from the US and the EU had no interest in such a role wrt Eastern Europe. Way to pay it forward EU. Russia under Putin simply changed tactics to cyber and info war to keep NATO confined. Strategy proved wildly successful.
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After Hungary, Ukraine, Kosovo etc, bang, he managed to Trumple over the US and own NATO. Props to the dude. He went from burning documents in East Germany to clawing back the sphere of influence that Gorbachev and Yeltsin lost. Total supervillain but at least a competent one.
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Historical memory of delicate, context-sensitive surgery of 1948-52, informed by the careful kremlinology of Kennan (who foresaw problems of NATO expansion before he died in 2005 at 101) was lost in the US. Clinton made the fateful errors, smooth-talking himself into delusion.
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The book ends with a loooong cast of characters section, text of Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine speeches, and tons of data and photos. This book really badly wants to be a rich hypertext book.
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So what did I learn of relevance to Post-Covid? I’m tempted to say “nothing.”https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J6VjPM5CeWs …
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We can’t try this in 2020. We lack the statesmen/women capable of drawing the right lessons and using this as meaningful precedent for anything. Post 1989 post-history suggests we learned nothing. The Marshall Plan was a rare, lucky success among schemes of its sort.
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And even then, the loose ends and 1990s aftershocks it created scripted out present mess. The Marshall Plan (intended) and NATO (unintended scope creep) eventually led, via a long causal chain, to Trumpism and even Covid response failure. A key cause can’t be a key to the cure.
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tldr of this live-read: If Covid-recovery needs a Marshall Plan style effort, we’re boned. Seek inspiration elsewhere.
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