I honestly think that such diplomacy is the only thing that Russia understands.
Look, I opposed the Iraq war fervently at the time and raged against the US and the decision of my country’s government to join them. It was a stupid and illegal and pointless war. The fact that it happened was incredibly short-sighted as it’s undermined the moral standing of the US in situations such as this. But two wrongs doesn’t make a right; we should work to stop these occasions all the time, not simply shrug and say ‘well the other guys have done it now, so fair’s fair.’
These are people’s actual lives at stake here, not just grandstanding by two superpowers. And without a stand made against Russia, their government is of the kind that only understands an equal and opposite force as one it can respect.
But maybe you are the one assuming wrongly. Perhaps Hitler took what he did because his calculation was at that point it wasn’t worth a war for anyone. If I let you take a pawn in a chess game have I emboldened you to go for a reckless checkmate?
Maybe the lesson for non-Hitlers is that we should be louder and more assertive but surely the lesson to a would-be Hitler is that it will be a real war.
I think he’s just naturally bold. His rise through the KGB and his blatant hold on power currently demonstrates a ruthlessness that can’t be ignored. But I doubt he’s crazy.
Only if they’re not afraid of getting invaded and annexed further. I doubt anyone in Ukraine believes that Putin invaded Crimes because Crimea has any special meaning to him.They know he invaded because street protests ousted the pro-Russian president, and next time, it may be their region he invades and annexes.
Putin stated years ago that if Ukraine attempted to join NATO it would be the ‘last straw’. There is no way that Russia would allow this to happen and there is little doubt that it would use military force to prevent it. We can only hope that NATO (and Ukraine) have sense enough not to push this otherwise we could all be be in trouble.
The ideal solution would have been for Ukraine to steer a middle course between the two power blocs. I honestly believe that Putin would have been content with that. Of course, that ship has sailed now.
Joining NATO was simply a pretext for what Putin was going to do anyway. Ukraine will join Russia voluntarily, or starring at a Russian tank turret. Ukraine’s choice. Not joining Russia was an option like Crimeans voting against Russia was an option.
I’m well aware of that, but Putin had years to attempt to take Crimea, by force or other means, if he really wanted it. Why now, if annexation of Crimea to Russia was desirable to him?
We stopped being isolationist at WW1, with Woodrow Wilson, the great (cough) Progressive president. There was a strong anti-war movement back then and it was summarily squashed by the government. We haven’t looked back since. The idea of taking care of the home first, with respect to US national foreign policy, has been dead for a very long time.
That leads me to the answer to your question about why we are involved in this Crimea thing. History. Since we are the number one country, by far, in terms of military spending and in terms of GDP, and since we are seen by other countries as the big brother, and since we have taken on that role time and time again, our involvement is all about perception. In other words, given all of this history and our status, what would it look like if we just stood by and said, “Meh, who cares about Crimea?”
It’s funny because I have this tendency to say, “meh”, myself, but if we were silent I would be even more puzzled.
I am on the record of having strongly criticized BrainGlutton’s view of the world and foreign policy ideas in particular, but this is right on the money.
A very short time ago, Putin had basically exactly what he wanted: a “democratic” leader in Ukraine who was committed to being a Russian puppet. Then it all came crashing down in a very short span of time. But, one thing Putin knows very well is how to play power politics, and he was able to turn things around in record time. His enemies are acting rather impotently, and he’s got Europe over a barrel. Now he’s got Crimea in his pocket, and perhaps the rest of Ukraine next.
It’s a zero sum game. Russia wins Crimea, that means we lose Crimea. Our image has been besmirched. It was supposed to go the other way. Have some geo-political competitive spirit, man.
It might be worth noting the last time the West decided to fight the Russians after it got some ideas about Crimea, it took three Empires and guest appearances by Austria and part of what is now Italy to get the Russians to rethink the whole thing.