If Russia is actually too weak or inept to overrun Ukraine, can you explain the need for NATO?

NATO is not, and has never been, about Russia. It was started as a response to the USSR (which is not identical with Russia), and continued after the collapse of the Soviet Union because the elimination of one threat does not mean that no other threats will ever emerge.

Which “other threat” might you suppose plausible?

NATO has dealt with conflicts and problems other than hostility with Russia, like the Yugoslav Wars, Afghanistan, and the migrant crisis.

I do agree that NATO is a player in Western imperialism and there may not have been a war in Ukraine without it, but it isn’t just about opposing Russia, even if it originated to oppose the Soviet Union.

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2022/03/russia-ukraine-war-invasion-nato-expansion-criticism Here’s an interesting article about criticism of NATO expansion and NATO’s effect on Russian policy.

The Russian military may be weak and inept but that hasn’t stopped it from directing its firepower on cities and civilian infrastructure causing huge damage and disruption to people’s lives. It might even be the reason it has chosen to fight in this way, to break people’s will to resist. Putin is a bully who picked on Ukraine because he thought it was weak. He didn’t dare attack a NATO country and that is what has protected European cities.

Putin respects nothing but force and if NATO didn’t exist today, it would, unfortunately, be necessary to invent it.

You’re drawing the exact opposite conclusion. One of the reasons Russia is pulling out is because NATO is strong and Russia would have had to fight all of NATO.

This strength was strong positive. (which makes Trump’s idea of getting rid of NATO particularly stupid)

Read up on your history of Germany and WWII. That will tell you why NATO is needed.

NATO is an insurance policy. Not against Russia in particular, but against any Putin type personality with a Napoleon Complex in general.

NATO is not just about Russia. It is a alliance created after WWII to make sure that if any country gets attacked by a tersest group or a country like Russia then they can fight back with a strong fist.

Every move is part of the dance. It’s communication. Right now the discussion is nuclear weapons. Pay attention.