Quote of the day 9th February 2026

 “There’s a theory about the Russo-Ukrainian war that is designed to satisfy the innate desire of the contrarians to be 'against the current thing.'”

“It also satisfies the desire of anti-Western westerners to blame … the West.”

"Best of all, that theory allows you to appear thoughtful and nuanced while everyone else is being hysterical about Russian aggression. Letting go of it is near impossible, because ones ego and intellectualism are at stake."

"The theory goes like this: Russia invaded Ukraine in preemptive self-defense against American aggression, embodied by NATO’s arrogant eastward expansion. Had America simply shown restraint and honored its alleged promises to Gorbachev, none of this would have happened. It’s a compelling narrative - one that transforms a war of conquest (born out of ideology) into a story of Western arrogance and Russian victimhood."

"There’s only one problem with that theory: it’s almost entirely fiction. A very carefully constructed fiction that leaves just enough breadcrumbs to make you feel as if you discovered the truth all by yourself, boost your ego and trap you in a way that even if you do debunk it, it’s near impossible to walk it back without a hit on your reputation or admitting that you were misled. Unfortunately, dear friends, that’s how sophisticated propaganda works."

"The NATO expansion narrative isn’t just wrong about the war; it’s a masterclass in academic historical revisionism" 


Extracts from the opening paragraphs in an article by Bianka@waronomics which systematically dismantles "The NATO Expansion Myth"






  













You can read the whole thing at

 The NATO Expansion Myth: How Academic Realists Rewrote History to Avoid Admitting They Were Wrong

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