A politician is a material incarnation of the absolute worst of human nature. Look around you, it’s self-evident. Basic human nature is to survive. Once that is accomplished and we become comfortable, extremes in behaviour can develop. If you’re a typical politician those extremes normally manifest as unchecked ego and unbridled power. A bad combination!
Putin is many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. Yes he is dangerous, yes he is power hungry, but show me a politician that is not. Again, politics is where the worst of human nature congregates, like flies to shit.
Take a look at the map above. It tells you all you need to know about why Ukraine is in the cross-hairs of the world’s super powers. It is about the Russian pipeline network that feeds Europe, plain and simple. Ukraine is, as you can see, a pretty damn important piece in the Russian energy distribution network.
This has nothing to do with Russians in Ukraine. “Brother Vlad” would gun those “countrymen” down in a heartbeat if they threatened his pipelines. He’d then return to his morning tea without a second thought. “Pass the toast Alina.” Oh, and unless you have been drinking the western media Kool Aid, the Brits and Yanks would do the same. This isn’t a cultural issue, it’s a matter of ECONOMICS, POWER AND POLITICS.
The 64 million dollar question now is how far will the delusional, intellectually bankrupt “gentlemen” that inhabits the White House push this with Putin..?
Obama’s foreign policy is a joke. The decisions coming out of this administration are nothing short of BRAIN DEAD. Imposing sanctions on Russia only serves to push Putin into a corner. If he backs down now he loses credibility, which means he can’t, as it would be political suicide.
I cannot fathom what the Obama administration thought they would get out of imposing sanctions, other than further alienating the Russians and endangering millions upon millions of people in the region.
Did they really think Putin would roll over and say “Sorry gee, you know what you’re right.”?
Did they really think that the Europeans, who by the way Russia has by the balls (via control over the flow of natural gas), would see it in their best interests to follow the US and antagonize the hand that feeds them?
Did they really think that China would back them up on this one? The US’s “allies” and “friends” have not suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. This is the real price of the NSA spying.
The US has the world’s largest , most sophisticated military. Spending on its military ($683.7B) alone is greater than the entire GDP of Afghanistan ($33.7B), where they have been unable to suppress the restless locals.
Antagonizing China and Russia is a dangerous game. One misstep and we could have WWIII on our hands, which would be most unfortunate.
– Chris
“If one looks at the map of the world, it’s difficult to find Iraq, and one would think it rather easy to subdue such a small country.” – Vladimir Putin
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Totally agree. Where has common sense gone? No endorsing of Putin here but whoever expected Russia to stay put, watching her sphere of influence vanish, is dangerously delusional.
Russia will never let millions of compatriots be ruled by a regime beyond her control. Russians will always remember history and certainly not give up Crimea, simply because Khrushchev blundered and signed it away, when it didn’t matter, as part of the USSR – and when he was drunk…
Just flabbergasted re the Western media and politicians, their lack of taking into consideration even rudimentary history, logistics, economic, geopolitical realities. What would the US reaction be to a Canada canceling Nafta and ally with Russia instead? Or even the EU? And to those who are oblivious to their own hypocrisy: how about Chile, Panama, Iran (Mosaddegh), Kosovo, the meddling in all the ‘Arab Spring’ countries and on it goes, never mind the joystick killing of civilians in foreign lands with drones, from the comfort of an office chair. So much for respecting sovereignty, independence.
Btw, I am not pretending anything. Only draw on a bit of experience from a number of trips, by train, Kiev to Odessa, overland to Black Sea ports. No jet fuel, spotty power, food and water supply, still developing business and getting an inkling of the land and people, right after the implosion of the USSR.
Quote from George F. Kennan, memoirs 1925 – 1950:
“Russian people have repelled the invader and regained their territories in a series of military operations second in drama and grandeur to nothing else that the history can show … this is the sort of experience that surpasses the receptivity of a single generation, that enters into the subconscious mind of a nation, to become legend, folklore, tradition – to determine reactions of people yet unborn”.
Yep, you paint the REAL picture succinctly and honestly like no one else out there Chris! Except maybe Victoria Nuland……
Obama is so far beyond his level of geopolitical understanding and ability he is really beginning to scare me. Can someone rein this elitist megalomaniac in before he gets more of our boys killed? Putin and Xi Jinping are playing him like a card but I hope they know he might be unpredictable when his “ego” takes center stage, which is what drives him the most, I am afraid.
Hope the meet-up is going well!