Comment by aa-jv
9 hours ago
They view certain components of "The West" as their enemy - indeed, the very organizations which conduct the same operations against the Russian people.
9 hours ago
They view certain components of "The West" as their enemy - indeed, the very organizations which conduct the same operations against the Russian people.
There are no enemies - they are competing parts - competing for popularity, resources, power. This makes it possible to negotiate. Enemies don't, but competitors are a lot more pragmatic.
Anglo-/Western and Russian governments have been strategic rivals for more than two centuries. Britain repeatedly sought to limit Russian expansion that threatened its own interests, such as routes to India, access to Caspian oil resources, etc.
See also, the Great Game and the Eastern Question.
They’re enemies because they want each others stuff. Russia has a LOT of stuff that the British would be quite happy to ‘manage’.
> Russia has a LOT of stuff that the British would be quite happy to ‘manage’.
And vice-versa, which results in the polite games being played, where everyone knows everyone else is doing shitty stuff to everyone, but nobody will ever admit it because that might cause the shitty stuff to descend into a shooting war, which is something we try to avoid as much as we can.