Do you believe that being soft with authoritarian countries (like Cuba or Russia) would lead to establishing democracies there?

[Cubus]

Would taking a peaceful strategy and warming the relations lead to fixing the problems with democracies in such countries or do you believe the only way to change the system there is by force?

[NathanDavis]

there is no real war or conflict with China

not one that affects the elite... and the elite is in control

Western and Chinese companies and suppliers are still doing enough great business and a lot of profit... that's what matters to them

what the governments pretend to do against each other is not what controls this world... that is just an image for politics and votes

same with Russia... there might be conflict in there, but those ships with grains and other stuff are coming out from the conflict zone because this is on the interest of the elite and their business/profit... right?

and same with other banks and companies that are of Russian origin but in business with Western companies and entities... and few of them are allowed to operate regardless of conflict or not because again... it serves the elite

the elite is fine, so the world will be fine, China and Russia won't be a bigger problem

[NamerOfStars]

It's a nice thought, but that was the idea with China, and you can see how well THAT worked out. Of course, hardlining was the idea with Cuba, and that's not really better.

[Cubus]

Obama tried soflining with Cuba.

[NamerOfStars]

He did; the hard approach obviously wasn't working. Was it the right call? Eh, maybe. Geopoltics is complicated, and it often doesn't become apparent whether an idea was good or bad for years, if not decades. Even then, most are pretty mixed.

[Lucy68]

I think starting off with a peacefully strategy is the way to go. However, if the country for some reason decides to attack well it'll be time to possibly flip the coin

[Cubus]

Isn't the time of attack too late?

[Lucy68]

I personally think you want to start off with a peaceful approach but keep the guard up just in case. I don't think the attack will be too late but then again you'll never know

[Cubus]

Cuba would not attack USA, they are not that stupid.

[Lucy68]

Dumb stupid question but do you think Russia would attack US. According to one Reddit post Russia wanted to attack Britain. I don't think they would, what's your take on that one

[Cubus]

Attacking the Russia would kill them. They barely make it in Ukraine

[Lucy68]

Who would it kill mind me asking

[Cubus]

Russia

[JustiReno]

@Lucy68 hmm 🤔

[Agape93]

No. Tyrants only respect power, and democracy doesn't have power. Everyone in it is replaceable within a few years.

[OlderAndWiser]

Russia will do nothing unless it is approved by Putin and kindness will only convince him of our weakness.

[Sargentcaptain]

Unless you, from the outside, invade and dethrone the ruler, that system will not change thanks to you. If the people on the inside don't revolt and dethrone the ruler themselves, the system will not change thanks to them. Being soft or hard is really irrelevant.

[Cubus]

By "hard" I mean "no compromise". I don't exactly mean invading the country

[Sargentcaptain]

In that case, those regimes are not gonna change anytime soon. No authoritarian is gonna step down or at least change his approach, just because leaders of other nations are protecting their interests.

[WhiteBoyChill]

By force. I’d be quite happy living in Russia though if I spoke the language.

As for Cuba, I’m still not sure why they’ve mostly been falling in line. I mean if they did those July protests all the time like they did last year or whenever it was, Communism would’ve been out the door

[Cubus]

Why would you be happy living in Russia?

[WhiteBoyChill]

Conservative and christian society

[Cubus]

Russia is not really conservative

https://youtu.be/pE8YOjsMm48

[jshm2]

You mean "authoritarian countries like the USA"

As it's the USA going around causing conflicts and problems around the world, not Cuba and Russia.

Maybe we will have a proper democracy in the USA someday

[Avicenna]

We can't force or persuade change like that in those countries. And we in the US and Europe aren't such great models of democracy anymore anyway, something the dictatorships have noticed.

[Cubus]

By "hardline" I mean attitude like Reagan's towards Soviet Union.

[Avicenna]

Ah, OK, I think in today's world, it wouldn't work if they are not economically isolated OR if they don't have a big brother country helping them (conditions that don't apply to any country), and in addition, what would need to happen is that it becomes so clear to enough people how rotten and corrupt the dictatorship is and that it needs to be jettisoned.

Look at Vietnam for example- they have significantly reformed their economy while remaining a dictatorship. This is a model that works for some time, at least until the economy falters structurally.

[CALIGVLA]

If you say that there's still a democracy in the West, I'm gonna call you a clown. A total clown. 😂

[Anonymous]

Didn't we try that with Gorbachev and Yelsin?

[Cubus]

Well, it made Russia democratic for the only time in its history, so you can say it was successful.