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AntiCapitalist MeetUp "God created war so that Americans could study geography." Mark Twain [1]
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Date: 2022-08-14
34% of Americans Can Find Ukraine on a Map. (February 2022) "In the USA, a survey of the University of Miami, 30% of the students could not locate the Pacific Ocean on a world map. A recent survey of 5,000 high school students in eight major cities in the USA revealed 25% of the students in Dallas could not name the country that borders the USA on the south, 50% of the students of Hartford, Connecticut were unable to name three countries in Africa, and 45% of those in Baltimore could not shade in the area representing the USA on a map." (
http://encyclopedia.uia.org/en/problem/134728)
At the beginning of February 2022, 34% of Americans could find Ukraine on a map, the number is likely better, much like the 2020 arrogance of Mike Pompeo daring a reporter to find it on a map. Fortunately, geopolitical consciousness requires more than pointing at maps. The incident with Pompeo was more about a Secretary of State screaming obscenities, which is where American consciousness is now expressed demonizing the press.
Much has changed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, even as some will identify the US as the imperialist villain in a conflict that clearly had Russia violating the territorial borders of Ukraine and claiming it shouldn’t exist. And the objective is the same as always, plundering natural resources. Any left analysis should consider the less ideological stakes and more material resources at play despite the problems of geopolitics.
x Natural resources is why Putin aggressively invaded Ukraine back in 2014.
Russia doesn't want Ukraine to undermine its ability to hold Europe hostage by controlling the majority of the energy in that part of the world.#RussiaIsATerroristState
https://t.co/McrdkN4zG0 — Historic Witness to Russian Aggression 😢💔🇺🇦 (@DramaticSkye) August 7, 2022
“God created war so Americans would learn geography.” (9 February 2022) So goes the apocryphal quote often attributed to Mark Twain, and many U.S. voters are getting a brush-up on Eastern Europe as Russian troops surround Ukraine on three sides and the Kremlin demands Western security concessions in exchange for backing down. President Joe Biden and his European allies have not agreed to Russia’s key demands and are attempting to deter Putin from an attack by threatening crippling sanctions and deploying more troops closer to Ukraine. It’s been hard to miss: About three quarters of U.S. voters said they had heard at least some news about the crisis. That’s about the same number of voters who could correctly place Russia on a map, and far more than the 1 in 3 who could identify Ukraine. Notably, those with a bit more geographic acuity were 19 percentage points more likely to report hearing “a lot” about the situation and were 15 points more likely to express concern over it. Accordingly, these voters were also more likely to support the most aggressive responses aiming to deter an invasion or contain Russia should it attack. morningconsult.com/…
Now, the polling picture looks different:
1 in 4 Voters Say the U.S. Isn’t Doing Enough for Ukraine: For the second-straight week, 25% of voters say the United States isn’t doing enough to help Kyiv defend itself against the Russian invasion, a figure that is reflected across Republican and Democratic voter demographics. GOP voters and independent voters, though, are more than twice as likely as Democrats to say “too much” is being done, at 21%, 22% and 10% respectively. Still, the lion’s share (42%) of all voters say that current commitments represent “the right amount” — a view shared by 50% of Democrats, 38% of independents and 35% of Republicans. Partisan Gap Over U.S. Responsibility for Ukraine: For the second week in a row, 42% of U.S. voters say their country’s government has a responsibility to defend and protect Ukraine from Russia, tying a tracking low. While most Democrats (56%) see the United States as responsible for protecting Ukraine, roughly a third of Republicans agree. morningconsult.com/…
The reality is stark and simple but the effects will last a decade when you look at what the Russians have already plundered.
After nearly six months of fighting, Moscow’s sloppy war has yielded at least one big reward: expanded control over some of the most mineral-rich lands in Europe. Ukraine harbors some of the world’s largest reserves of titanium and iron ore, fields of untapped lithium and massive deposits of coal. Collectively, they are worth tens of trillions of dollars. The lion’s share of those coal deposits, which for decades have powered Ukraine’s critical steel industry, are concentrated in the east, where Moscow has made the most inroads. That’s put them in Russian hands, along with significant amounts of other valuable energy and mineral deposits used for everything from aircraft parts to smartphones, according to an analysis for The Washington Post by the Canadian geopolitical risk firm SecDev. Russia possesses vast amounts of natural resources. But denying Ukraine its own has strategically undermined the country’s economy, forcing Kyiv to import coal to keep the lights on in cities and towns. Should the Kremlin succeed in annexing the Ukrainian territory it has seized — as U.S. officials believe it will try to do in coming months — Kyiv would permanently lose access to almost two-thirds of its deposits. Ukraine would also lose myriad other reserves, including stores of natural gas, oil and rare earth minerals — essential for certain high-tech components — that could hamper Western Europe’s search for alternatives to imports from Russia and China. www.washingtonpost.com/… x Here is the article they're discussing:
https://t.co/D7irXjJIY5 — Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) August 13, 2022 Russia’s motives for invading Ukraine vary from security fears to revisionist historical claims that a Ukrainian national identity does not exist. Energy security also looms large—in particular, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s determination to ensure the continued flow of Russian oil and gas to European markets, including through Ukraine’s pipelines. But the far bigger prize eyed by Russia may be Ukraine’s extraordinary resource riches, including some of the largest energy, mineral, and agricultural assets in the world. With the exception of agriculture and coal, many of Ukraine’s resources remained underdeveloped and unexplored during the Soviet and much of the post-Soviet era. More recently, Ukraine has sought to increase its economic and energy security by developing these resources and diversifying its exports away from Russia. It launched a major oil and gas privatization effort in 2013, but this was interrupted by Russia’s 2014 invasion and annexation of Crimea and military intervention in the Donbas. After launching a new energy strategy in 2017 and accelerating the licensing of mineral extractions last year, Ukraine’s moves to develop its resources have once again been thwarted by Russia’s invasion—not least because many of Ukraine’s resources are in its eastern regions and underneath the Black Sea, which are now either controlled by or under attack from Russia. Ukraine’s formidable farming output has likewise been set back by Russia’s deliberate targeting of warehouses, farm equipment, and other agricultural assets. Russia has also occupied many of Ukraine’s ports, is blockading sea routes, and has sunk several cargo ships intending to ship Ukrainian grain to world markets. Russia’s announced war aim of conquering Ukraine’s eastern regions and southern shores is hardly coincidental. These regions—including Ukraine’s section of the Black Sea, now mainly controlled by Russia—account for about half of Ukraine’s conventional oil, 72 percent of its natural gas, and almost its entire coal production and reserves. The bulk of Ukraine’s critical minerals, especially the rare earth metals that are now in high demand, are likewise found in Donetsk and other parts of Ukraine either occupied or threatened by Russia. A number of crucial agricultural crops feeding global markets—including wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower oil—are harvested in eastern and southeastern Ukraine. The war has not only disrupted the production of these resources, but it has also shut down the supply of vital inputs, blocked export routes, and made future investment uncertain. foreignpolicy.com/...
x Russia "seized: 41 coal fields, 27 natural gas sites, 14 propane sites, 9 oil fields, 6 iron ore deposits, 2 titanium ore sites, 2 zirconium ore sites, 1 strontium site, 1 lithium site, 1 uranium site, 1 gold deposit and a significant quarry of limestone."
https://t.co/ACrSXognxX pic.twitter.com/Bsb4wqyS9W — Jane Lytvynenko (@JaneLytv) August 12, 2022
x "Russia possesses vast amounts of natural resources. But denying Ukraine its own has strategically undermined the country’s economy, forcing Kyiv to import coal to keep the lights on in cities and towns."
https://t.co/wkK80gFs4Q — Andrea J (@andrea_arkansas) August 13, 2022
x "we are doing what no one in the world has done before us"#Ukraine's Ministry of Environmental Protection & Natural Resources together w the State Ecological Inspectorate records #Russian forces' crimes against Ukraine nature & the environment#Ecocide
https://t.co/TLkH24Gs5I pic.twitter.com/yCwSawEoRj — Lotte Leicht (@LotteLeicht1) August 3, 2022
x It’s perfect. Geographic illiteracy is also a serious problem in the U.S. and elsewhere in first world countries.😂
https://t.co/aoiUdzpJZM — Miron Boland (@mirontboland) July 30, 2022
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