© Sputnik / Natalia Seliverstova
It is commonplace for Americans to portray Russia as a dangerous country with nearly unlimited territorial ambitions.
But the facts simply do not support such an alarmist view. Instead, Russia's behavior is more consistent with that of a beleaguered regional power trying to fend off hostile intrusions from an American-led NATO.
The self-serving myth of a malignantly aggressive Russia, however, continues to grow - with potentially dangerous consequences for European and global peace.
Assertions that Moscow's behavior pose a serious, even an existential, threat to Europe and the entire democratic West surfaced even before Donald Trump became president. They flared up in 2008 when fighting erupted between Russia and neighboring Georgia -
even though the latter country had initiated the aggression. Senator John McCain
asserted that "it's very clear that Russian ambitions are to restore the old Russian Empire."
Such allegations became more pervasive when Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014 following the Western-assisted Maidan revolution that overthrew Ukraine's elected, pro-Russian government. Ultra-hawkish writer and media talking head Ralph Peters asserted that Putin had a
detailed plan for reclaiming the Russian empire. "Make no mistake," Peters warned, "Putin
truly believes he's entitled to reclaim Ukraine and a great deal more. In his view, independent capitals from Warsaw (yes, Warsaw) to Bishkek [the Kyrgyz Republic's capital] are integral and natural parts of the Russian imperium. He regards them as property stolen from its rightful owner: Moscow." Hillary Clinton's rhetoric was even
more apocalyptic: Putin's actions, she contended, were "what Germany did back in the '30s."
Comment: Macron's elitism will preclude any real dialog or solutions. The YVs have good reason for their skepticism and disgust. See also:
Niall Bradley to PressTV: 'Yellow Vests Movement a Result of Sclerotic, Totalitarian Politics in Western Europe'