Donald Trump’s Reliability as an Ally Has Proven to Be Questionable

According to Financial Times, the U.S. will stop providing Ukraine with intelligence support. This comes at a time when the Ukrainian Army is once again gaining the upper hand in the war against Russia. Meanwhile, Ukraine has just expressed gratitude to Trump and announced that it will sign a mineral agreement.

This strongly supports the idea that the Russian government has some means of blackmailing Trump. Whether it’s compromising erotic video material or something else—I don’t know—but either way, Trump's position as Vladimir Putin’s pocket rat seems increasingly obvious.

That’s why Ukrainians and Europeans must now, at the very latest, ask whether there is any motivation behind Trump’s actions other than attempting to influence the war in a way that allows Putin to get what he wants—ultimately leading to Ukraine losing its independence. Or at the very least, turning into a Russian puppet state like Belarus.

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Many Finns would prefer that we refrain from criticizing Trump’s actions, while many others would like us to return to the era of Finlandization, when Finns did everything they could to avoid provoking the eastern superpower.

However, the Finnish government has taken a clear stance: we aim to support Ukraine in its war. The reasons for this are both the moral obligation to stand by a country that has been subjected to an illegal invasion and the fear that a Russian victory in Ukraine could lead to an attack on other neighboring states—including Finland.

Of course, Finland’s NATO membership alleviates some of this fear, as it ensures U.S. and other allies’ support in the event of an attack. But if the U.S. government is in Putin’s pocket, the situation looks entirely different. In that case, can Finland truly rely on U.S. assistance when it matters most?

In this regard, there is one crucial point that not all Finns have grasped: Russia is not actually competing with the U.S. for global dominance—China is. It may be that Trump wants to get the Ukraine issue off his hands as quickly as possible to focus on China, even if he isn’t directly controlled by Putin.

For Finland, this means that the only even somewhat reliable support against Russia will come from Europe—especially the Nordic countries—whose military capabilities, however, have been allowed to deteriorate almost completely. That is why Finland must be highly proactive in pushing for European rearmament. And fortunately, the Finnish government has recently been doing exactly that.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:

Donald Trump Has Unleashed a Dangerous Development
Too Many Finns Share Trump’s Inability to Comprehend
Europe Needs Leadership and Urgent Defense Actions

Finnish Artists Embarrassed Themselves Over the Eurovision Song Contest

Over the weekend, Finland selected a representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. However, I don’t know what kind of song she sings because I stopped following the competition a long time ago.

I decided to write about it today, though, because many well-known Finnish artists with leftist leanings—Eija Ahvo, Eero Ritala, Minna Haapkylä, and Sara Meller—are demanding that Finland’s national broadcaster boycott the contest if Israel participates. Israel’s representative is Yuval Raphael, who survived Hamas’s terrorist attack on the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, by hiding in a bomb shelter under dead bodies. Despite this, she still has shrapnel in her head and leg from the attack.

To me, the demand made by these Finnish artists in this situation says everything about their morality. In short, it is murderous, criminal, cowardly, utterly rotten, and downright stupid. And for that, I feel deep secondhand embarrassment on their behalf.

However, everyone is responsible for their own words and actions. And it is not the fault of the rest of us Finns if someone wants to showcase their support for terrorism.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Eurovision Song Contest Funding Faces Pushback Due to Woke Ideology
During the Eurovision song spectacle, the incompetence of EU officials was revealed
Palestinians: acknowledging facts is the beginning of wisdom!

Russian Strategy to Take Control Over the USA and the World Has Succeeded Shockingly Well So Far

Two days ago, Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, rolled back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, joining a growing list of major corporations that have done the same after facing criticism from conservative activists. Even before this, companies such as Ford, Harley-Davidson, Lowe’s, and Tractor Supply had already taken similar steps.

This reminded me of a strategy described in the recent book by Finnish top communication professionals Markku Mantila and Jouni Mölsä, which the Russians have allegedly used to influence Western nations. According to them, a Russian defector, Yuri Bezmenov, revealed back in 1984 that the Soviet Union’s goal was to alter the perception of reality in the United States to the extent that its population would no longer be able to draw rational conclusions about the reality surrounding them.

The first stage of this strategy was demoralization, which involved steering students toward Marxist-Leninist thinking. According to Bezmenov, this phase was already complete 40 years ago. 

In the next stage, lasting about 20 years and referred to as destabilization, the Russians’ aim was (in Bezmenov's time, "would be") to increase disagreements between different groups in the United States. As examples of destabilizing themes, he mentioned homosexuality as well as women’s and children’s rights—translated into today’s language, themes that have gained traction in recent years through DEI policies.

The third stage in the Russian strategy is the crisis phase, in which citizens look for saviors by demanding strong leaders and governments, while expressing their discontent with societal chaos.

According to Bezmenov's ideas from 40 years ago, the Russians’ ultimate goal is "normalization", which refers to a situation similar to what happened after the Prague Spring in 1968, when Czechoslovakia was ruled by a puppet government installed by the Soviet Union, subordinate to Moscow and receiving its instructions from there.

All of this is detailed in Mantila and Mölsä’s book. From my perspective, it seems that the Russians have shockingly succeeded in achieving the goals of the first two phases. However, it remains to be seen what the collapse of corporations and, subsequently, DEI policies will lead to.

In this matter, ordinary Americans play a decisive role. Will the resistance faced by DEI deepen societal polarization, eventually leading to the crisis Bezmenov described? Or is this merely part of an ideological shift, one that is leaving DEI policies behind and, in doing so, discarding Russia’s long-term objectives into the trash bin of history?

Finally, I conclude that it would be beneficial for American (and Western) politicians to equip their citizens with the means to counter Russian hybrid influence. In this regard, it is particularly important to ensure a strong foundation of basic knowledge through quality education, the reliability of the political system, the adherence of information channels to facts rather than fostering political discord, and the media literacy of citizens. 

Strengthening social cohesion and fostering a sense of community could also play a vital role in making societies more resilient to external manipulation. And cooperation between Western nations is equally crucial, as countering hybrid threats often requires a unified response and shared strategies.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Putin Set a Goal — Failure Would Be an Embarrassment
Swedish TV Did Not Learn Anything From the Riots in the UK
Defending National Security: Finland's Response to Hybrid Warfare

Russians are, Intellectually, Spiritually, and Morally, a Deficient People

In Finland, it has always been known that Russians are, intellectually, spiritually, and morally, a deficient people. A recent example of this was seen when Finland's embassy in Moscow was vandalized on Friday. The embassy wall had been marked in Swedish with the message "Åland is ours". It means that the Baltic Sea island belonging to Finland, Åland, "belongs" to those who wrote on the wall.

Following this, Duma representative Maria Butina commented mockingly on the matter on the messaging service Telegram: "some comrades, terrible and frightful scoundrels (whom we of course condemn, hehe), went and defaced the wall of Finland's embassy."

I believe that every civilized person, not just in Finland but elsewhere as well, can understand that this defacement — most likely done on Vladimir Putin’s orders — along with the Duma representative’s comment, displays low intelligence, childishness, and immorality. And every Finn, for their part, knows that the Swedes had nothing to do with the incident.

And therefore, I would like to pose a question to Mr. Putin and Maria Butina: what do they think they will gain by demonstrating their own idiocy in this way?

Previous thoughts on the same topic: 
Incapable of learning but capable of genocide
Tradition of low professional ability among Russian security agency and dictators
Demonstration of one´s own stupidity is a sign of western values