EDIT: Correction, I was banned from Lemmy Zip, the confusion stems from my inability to see Lemmy Zip communities in the search anymore leading me to think it was Lemmy ML which has a community of the same name.
Iran absolutely has never attempted a deescalation in my lifetime.
That's not a serious examination of international politics. Fuck, man, there was opportunity for outright realignment even after the fucking Iraq War. Even in the 2010s Rouhani openly espoused a reconciliatory line.
Fuck, man, have you forgotten the treaty that Trump ripped up?
I think a few days before the capture he was singing a different tune, being somewhat ambiguous to US investment for oil, but if we’re drawing parallels to that event then it’s not even worth discussion because that means the conclusion for Cuba is already set in stone as well, just like Venezuela’s was months in advance, and I only hope that isn’t the case.
... in which case demilitarizing would be immensely fucking stupid.
You brought up Russia’s actions, again, but I’ve already established that Russia wants to expand and the USA does not.
Putin wants wars to shore up his domestic legitimacy and power.
Trump wants wars to shore up his domestic legitimacy and power.
Institutions do not act in their own interests. Institutions act in the interests of the decision-makers, and between the minority status of the Dems and the fucking spinelessness of the GOP, the main decision-maker in the US with regards to foreign policy at the moment is Donald Trump.
The only difference between Trump and Putin is that Trump is significantly stupider. Not less malicious, not less opportunistic, not less willing to break formal-or-informal agreements with countries for the sake of militaristic fascist chest-beating.