intelligence. i think that s what it was collecting and it looks like that pay load from what we are seeing is going to be recovered relatively intact. and i would argue that is a great thing from an intelligence perspective. however, i do think in terms of the timing, one of the things that they paid my interest is i believe it was on february 2nd. we signed a military agreement with the philippines which really expanded our military reach. somewhat close to taiwan and i am certain that that was not yet know well received by the chinese quite frankly. you know this could have been a reaction to that, although i don t see this as a reaction to that. interesting, all right alex knock russia and tracey walter, thank you so much for sharing your expertise and insight. we will see you again. and then meantime, other breaking news, the devastation in syria and turkey reaching a new grim milestone, at least 25,000 people are declared
18,000, and other tiny pacific islands to free them from beijing s embrace. china was rising fearsomely, and that is what made it so dangerous. prepare for a new argument. china is declining precipitously, and that is why it s so dangerous. so even if the facts are the opposite of what was previously asserted, the conclusion somehow remains the same. in fact, while declining powers do pose a threat, the general and obvious rule remains that, as countries grow rich and powerful, they try to expand their political and military reach. moscow, in the 1990s, when its economy was collapsing, allowed ukraine to become independent. putin, flush from a decade of high energy prices, invaded ukraine. scholars have found that it turns inward in periods of
precipitously, and that is why it s so dangerous. so even if the facts are the opposite of what was previously asserted, the conclusion somehow remains the same. in fact, while declining powers do pose a threat, the general and obvious rule remains that, as countries grow rich and powerful, they try to expand their political and military reach. moscow, in the 1990s, when its economy was collapsing, allowed ukraine to become independent. putin, flush from a decade of high energy prices, invaded ukraine. scholars have found that it turns inward in periods of weakness and stress. let me be clear. china, with all its limitations,
all metrics? well, he is. and i think to your point, jose correctly, finlandization of ukraine might refer to 1940, other than what happened afterwards. a small country basically fending off an overwhelming aggression of a neighbor and inspiring the world, right, with this courage. i think right now, i mean, admiral kirby made this point, his military has not shown itself to be the giant he advertised. he has not only helped unify and solidify and even expand nato, he has demonstrated to the world that his was always a bluff. the russian military right now is a paper tiger. not to say they can t do great harm. look what they did to ukraine, even if ukraine wins, they will have been devastated and many people have suffered as a result. russia is not the all-powerful ten foot man putin would like to pretend it is. for him to extend his military