"Russia will not leave this request without attention." (HERE)
And so it begins. I want to say that I was wrong about Yanukovych. I thought he would not give up so easily the second time around and that he would take courage from Russia's support of Assad in Syria.
I was wrong also in thinking that the action would start in the East of Ukraine where there is a clear Russian majority. In retrospect, it makes a lot of sense that this will begin in Crimea. If Russia is going to be a world power again, it needs to be able to project power and that means a warm water fleet (cf. Tartus). Besides, annexing Eastern Ukraine can wait until later.
I was right that this would all begin once the Olympics were over and that Russia would be more than willing to use force if necessary. However, instead of Hungary in 1956, it looks like it will play out more like Abkhazia in 2008. In any case, the fact remains that the euphoria in Kiev is premature. This does not look like it will resolve itself anytime soon.
Once again, the "realists" in foreign affairs were proven right as has Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations." As for Fukuyama and the "idealist" crowd, they have once again been proven to be delusional. Meanwhile, back on the farm, the US continues its downward spiral and slashes the defence budget to pre-WWII levels. Let's just wait and see how that works out for the world.
And so it begins. I want to say that I was wrong about Yanukovych. I thought he would not give up so easily the second time around and that he would take courage from Russia's support of Assad in Syria.
I was wrong also in thinking that the action would start in the East of Ukraine where there is a clear Russian majority. In retrospect, it makes a lot of sense that this will begin in Crimea. If Russia is going to be a world power again, it needs to be able to project power and that means a warm water fleet (cf. Tartus). Besides, annexing Eastern Ukraine can wait until later.
I was right that this would all begin once the Olympics were over and that Russia would be more than willing to use force if necessary. However, instead of Hungary in 1956, it looks like it will play out more like Abkhazia in 2008. In any case, the fact remains that the euphoria in Kiev is premature. This does not look like it will resolve itself anytime soon.
Once again, the "realists" in foreign affairs were proven right as has Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations." As for Fukuyama and the "idealist" crowd, they have once again been proven to be delusional. Meanwhile, back on the farm, the US continues its downward spiral and slashes the defence budget to pre-WWII levels. Let's just wait and see how that works out for the world.
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