Russia and Ukraine flashpoint

[Dulfite]

War brings out the worst and best in people. I remember when 9/11 happened, I was 10 I believe, in 5th grade. Even in my young ignorance, I could tell people were unified. I haven't felt that same unification since then, until now.

I feel like Putin awoke the sleeping giant of the west, to paraphrase Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. The "my country first" movements are shifting into a "west nations first" mentality, which is going to lead to increased connectedness of western nations the likes of which we haven't seen in decades. This will be even bigger than 9/11, I think, because this isn't a one-off attack followed by an invasion of non-western nations. No one of importance is talking about countering Russia by invading their soil, it's all about defense.

I think many nations will basically be done with trading with Russia except for absolute minimum needs going forward. Putin has ruined his nation's economy for at least a decade or two and it may never be as good again as it was. I think western nations will increase trade deals with each other and increasingly less with Russia and, eventually, China, because of this. They have now proven they cannot be trusted and no one wants to be scrambling the way Europe is right now for oil, in the future. People will want to have full proof plans and you can't have that when your nation is dependent on Russia/China.