Hello everyone, I'm Mr. Tang. Over the past 20 years or so, the West has had several common illusions (or "strategic miscalculations") about Russia, which have sometimes been replaced by one another. It is the stubborn adherence to these detached ways of thinking that are in power in the West that have largely helped Russia become a dangerous force that is difficult to do today. Today, Mr. Tang will take a look at these major fantasies about the existence of Russia in the Western world in chronological order.
1. Putin is a liberal imperialist, an object that can be traded and bought
What is a liberal imperialist? Freedom means freedom, and imperialism refers to foreign expansion.
At first glance, the outlandish name of liberal imperialism sounds very abstract.
Traditional imperialism plunders wealth and land as much as possible, occupying and colonizing. However, the cost of this approach is too high, and it requires a lot of manpower and material resources to be managed, and it is also necessary to garrison troops, which is very troublesome. Liberal imperialism, on the other hand, does not aim at aggression and colonization, it believes that the best way to gain wealth and influence is freedom**. Mr. Tang briefly used the United Kingdom as an example.
Britain after 1840 is a typical example of liberal imperialism. During the period from the 30s to the 70s of the 19th century, the focus of the empire's overseas expansion was no longer how to occupy more colonies, but to force others to accept freedom**, and if there was resistance, then resolutely use force.
Historically, the Western world has successfully walked this path many times. This kind of expansionist thinking of liberal imperialism essentially involves the use of resources as much as possible, rather than relying entirely on the appropriation of resources. The empire built along this path is a borderless empire with a powerful penetrating force.
Of course, this line of thinking was later learned by the United States. The United States, after reaching the world's largest industrial output in 1890, also adopted this expansion model and proposed an open-door policy. From there, a new type of American-style empire was born.
Back to Putin, many friends think that Putin is a very domineering and tough guy. But if you know more about international relations and Russia, then you should know that Putin actually belongs to the best representative in Russia, and some sophisticated politicians in Europe, such as Merkel, know this truth about Putin.
Putin's dream is to fully integrate Russia into Western institutions and markets. He has also been promoting this during his administration, working on the creation of the Moscow-Berlin-Paris economic axis and the integration of Russia and Europe.
Therefore, the Western world has always believed that they can make a deal with Putin, and that the alliance between the United States and Putin can strengthen international security. This opens up favorable prospects for the best relations and cooperation between the two sides. However, this illusion was shattered in the events in Crimea in 2014.
The official response of the West to this matter was the first wave of sanctions, but nothing was resolved.
Second, Russia is a soft persimmon, bully it, it will not resist.
The essence of the Russia-Ukraine war is the continued eastward expansion of NATO, led by the United States. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States has considered itself the "winner of the Cold War." However, as a product of the Cold War, NATO did not enter history with the Cold War, but has increasingly become a military bloc engaged in bloc confrontation under the leadership of the United States. In recent years, NATO has continued to expand eastward and tried to win Ukraine into it, which has touched Russia's strategic bottom line.
NATO had promised not to expand eastward.
In 1990, then-US Secretary of State James Baker and then-Soviet commander Mikhail Gorbachev promised that NATO would not expand eastward.
In 1991, the foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France, and Germany held a meeting in Bonn, Germany, to discuss a commitment to the Soviet Union that NATO would not continue to expand eastward from eastern Germany. There is already a consensus that the accession of Eastern European countries to NATO is unacceptable.
However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO actually tore up the "gentlemen's agreement" with the Soviet Union.
In 1999, NATO admitted Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic as NATO members;
In 2004, seven countries were admitted as full members, including Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Estonia;
In 2009, Albania and Croatia were agreed to join NATO;
In 2017, Montenegro was approved to join NATO;
In 2020, North Macedonia was absorbed.
Over the past 20 years or so, NATO has expanded eastward five times, constantly squeezing Russia's security space. Russia's strategic security space in Eastern Europe has been basically squeezed out by NATO, and it has almost fallen into a situation where there is "no way to retreat."
In this regard, Putin bluntly said that Russia was tricked on the issue of NATO's eastward expansion:“……We were lied to, they brazenly deceived us. NATO has expanded eastward five times, and now Romania and Poland have deployed missile systems, what does this mean? It's not that we're threatening others, we didn't go to the American border, we didn't go to the British border, it's they who came to us, and now they say that Ukraine is also going to join NATO. ”
The Western world has been constantly trying Russia's bottom line, and Russia's tolerance several times has made the Western world have illusions, believing that Russia no longer dares to show its sword to the West. So we saw that on February 24, 2022, Russia picked up the gun on the wall and walked into the forest ...... of Ukraine
3. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is looking for death. It will soon be penalized economically and deprived of global markets and financial resources
Since the spring of 2022, Russia has been subjected to severe economic sanctions from the West. These sanctions have been described as "financial nuclear bombs", and their magnitude and scope are staggering. However, despite ongoing sanctions, Russia has shown surprising economic resilience. In the face of such tremendous pressure, Russia not only did not collapse, but instead diversified its energy sources. This shift not only strengthens Russia's economic stability, but also makes it less sensitive to external economic changes. Today, Russia earns more foreign exchange earnings from various energy exports than it did before the war. Especially when it comes to oil exports, Moscow's monthly income has surpassed its pre-invasion levels. 
This result undoubtedly gave a resounding slap in the face to those who advocate sanctions against Russia. Western sanctions have indeed weakened Russia's economy to some extent, but they have not stopped it from strengthening itself through economic adaptation and diversification strategies. This fully shows that sanctions are not a panacea, but a double-edged sword. While injuring enemies, it is also possible to eat itself. And the West, in this sanctions against Russia, has clearly forgotten this important lesson. 
Fourth, the Ukrainian army can win the Russian army
Russia dared to brazenly send troops into Ukraine's homeland, which no country expected. The United States and NATO did not know Russia's strategic motives, so they did not dare to send troops, and could only respond by means of economic sanctions, but Ukraine's unexpected fierce resistance created new illusions in the West.
At the beginning of the war, no one was optimistic about Ukraine, believing that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict would be a blitzkrieg of the 21st century, and Ukraine would collapse within 2 weeks. However, no one could have predicted what would happen after that. The Russian army missed out on fighters due to the shocking corruption of the intelligence services.
After the siege of Kyiv was lifted, the Western world began to massively send ** and ammunition to the Ukrainian army, and mercenaries from all over the world began to gather in Ukraine. However, the severity of the battle that followed was unimaginable.
Fifth, dismember Ukraine and give a few pieces of it to Russia as a gift, so that the war can be ended
With the failure of Ukraine's offensive in the south in the summer of 2023, the military solution to the Russian-Ukrainian war has largely failed. The Western world is beginning to understand that even the Ukrainian army, which has support, cannot win against the Russian army.
Now, then, it's time to think about solutions other than war. After all, post-war Europe still needs to engage with Putin** unless Europe's industrial giants are willing to collectively return from the age of gas to the age of coal.
It is a highly controversial statement that Russia's territory has no boundaries, but many people in power on both sides of the Atlantic today have proposed a seemingly simple and effective solution: to divide Ukraine into several pieces and give it to Putin as a gift, thus avoiding war and the sacrifice of countless lives.
Just give Russia a few pieces of Ukrainian territory, and Putin will be satisfied. Whether it's Trump, Musk, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Dutch right-wingers who recently won the first place, in their eyes, Putin seems to be a negotiable object, a leader who can be bought with territory. However, is it really that simple?
We need to recognize that Russia today is extremely tough and firm in some ways, and they either need everything or nothing. This has become the essence of Russian rule. Putin has been tough on Western countries for the past 25 years. He is well aware of the intentions and tactics of Western countries, and it is hard to believe that he will easily accept any form of bribery or negotiation. Trying to resolve tensions with Russia through a simple territorial exchange may not be realistic. On the contrary, we need to recognize the strength and firmness of Russia, as well as the wariness and hostility of Russia under Putin towards Western countries.