In that case, it seems our views on reality and sources are too far apart to find agreement in a comment thread. If you get the chance, I would highly recommend visiting the ex-soviet republics in eastern Europe and speaking with the locals, including the Russian diaspora there. That has been eye opening for me.

So is Ukraine not in Europe or not being invaded? How about Georgia and Moldova? I guess the constant threats against Svalbard and Baltikum, as well as the funding and bribery of alt-right groups all over the west can be seen as technically not an invasion, but it does paint a scary picture. It might be true that Putin don’t want to invade western and northern Europe, but he is actively trying to reconquer what he sees as lost western colonies.

I unfortunately know a bit too many eastern europeans who experienced this aid to see the kremlin with rose tinted glasses. Of course “a random person on the internet said NATO is good actually” won’t change anyones mind, but I would generally recommend everyone to broaden which media they read. It is possible for several things to be true at the same time, for example both that the endless wars in the middle east and Africa are imperialist, and that there is a valid need for military defense against Russia, even if it is flawed.

I take it you don’t share a border with Russia or the USSR before that? We are not fond of imperialists here either, and our government has certainly contributed to some unjust wars over the years, but we have little choice seeing how the kremlin waged wars against its neighbors and own people. I hope for the day when we can live in peace and quiet together with our Russian neighbors, the vast majority of them seem like nice people, but as long as the current regimes over there persist we need some sort of oversized defense alliance.