yea, maybe the idea of using another country for its own benefits to a point the other country suffers is wayy too much self love lol
Some examples - The US stayed in Afghanistan for 20 years to combat the Taliban but left without a proper handover, ultimately causing suffering in Afghanistan when the Talibans took over. In fact they created the Talibans in Afghanistan & Pakistan all those years ago to fight against Russia.
Other examples would be Central America, South America - monopolising its economy and controlling its gov'ts.
Exploiting other nations' economies and then abandoning them, like colonization, is sadly not unusual. Taiwan losing its independence if the US no longer sees a need for it is concerning.
On the second point, the Ukraine-Russia issue goes back to centuries, from early Russian dynasties, the Russian Empire, the USSR, and the allure of 'Europe.' Many eastern European countries struggle economically balancing democracy and communism e.g newly established democratic countries like Georgia still uses potatos to barter trade.
Ukraine's relationship with Russia is like Sicily's with Italy, marked by cultural differences. This is further narrowed by locality such as Crimea which has stronger Russian influence culturally. Before IMF splurged their Billions, Russia used to support Ukraine financially.
Its hard to force Russia to be amicable when Nato is lined up at its borders. At the same time, its also very to find an amicable solution when the main port for trade is controlled by Russia.
JFK was the last president who wanted global peace. Everyone after that wanted war. The victorious position themselves as super power. But the bigger benefits ? The money $$
US is the largest weapon manufacturer in the world. Half of Boeing's sales is military aircraft and missiles. The Department of Defense (DoD) contract in 2021 was $559 billion (2.3 % of the country's GDP).
Supply and Demand is the actual problem here :)