Dromond
Pleasantly abstruse.
Russian armed forces take control of the Crimea By any metric, this is a highly disturbing development. This comes after Obama warned Putin that military intervention in Crimea would "have costs." Since the military action, President Obama told Putin to withdraw Russian forces. Putin is having none of it.
Now here is the thing. Historically, the Ukraine was never a nation state. The Ukrainians are definitely a people with their own language, history and culture, but they've never had a nation until the breakup of the Soviet Union. They had a rebellion in 1920, in which they declared independence but were unable to make it stick. Within the Russian/Soviet structure, Crimea was Russian until 1954 when it was gifted to the Ukraine SSR. That wasn't a big deal, since it was all one big happy dictatorship. But when the Soviet Union fell, things got messy fast.
Regardless, the current situation is that the Crimea is part of the Ukraine. Russia has committed an act of war against the Ukraine, and Ukraine is appealing to the United Nations for help. I think a Russian veto is a given.
So what to do? A shooting war with Russia is about as bad a thing as I can imagine. The Russian military is not a credible threat to the United States. The Russian ICBMs are another story. Personally I don't have a clue.
Now here is the thing. Historically, the Ukraine was never a nation state. The Ukrainians are definitely a people with their own language, history and culture, but they've never had a nation until the breakup of the Soviet Union. They had a rebellion in 1920, in which they declared independence but were unable to make it stick. Within the Russian/Soviet structure, Crimea was Russian until 1954 when it was gifted to the Ukraine SSR. That wasn't a big deal, since it was all one big happy dictatorship. But when the Soviet Union fell, things got messy fast.
Regardless, the current situation is that the Crimea is part of the Ukraine. Russia has committed an act of war against the Ukraine, and Ukraine is appealing to the United Nations for help. I think a Russian veto is a given.
So what to do? A shooting war with Russia is about as bad a thing as I can imagine. The Russian military is not a credible threat to the United States. The Russian ICBMs are another story. Personally I don't have a clue.
