Frank wrote on Nov 1
st, 2024 at 6:59pm:
Ukraine is America's next Vietnam/Iraq/Afghanistan - spend endless treasure and have nothing to show for it, not for America, not for Afghanistan/Iraq/Vietnam/Ukraine.
What is the expectation here? A victorious Ukraine? Impossible.
A seriously degraded Russia? Evidently not happening and will not happen.
What then??
Profit/Loss analysis of the "Ukraine affair" is very complex theme and hopefully will be done in future after dust settles down. Meantime we have to look at P/L of states and individuals separately.
US military industrial complex didn't do too bad, while some private players, like Biden family, did well, remember Burisma bribery scandal.
Biggest winners this far are China and India also North Korea and Iran has some political and economical benefits.
Russian Federation is at the moment in small plus but is poised to improve.
Biggest loser is Ukraine, also in negative are some western European countries.
US as as state somewhat lost its focus on Asia/Pacific where it matters most.
One of main reason for "West" miscalculations is self deception due to extremely strong propaganda in media.
All above is IMHO based on some internet research. At the moment I read "Every War Must End", by Fred Charles Iklé.