Search: Crimea,War (9 materials)

Keeping Russia the Enemy: Congressional Attitudes and Biased Expertise

... initially placed on the so-called Obama ‘reset’ in American relations with Russia in 2008, the reality is that enthusiasm quickly faded and subsequently placed the Democratic Party as squarely pessimistic and adversarial in its attitude toward Russia as the Republicans. Indeed, in today’s environment of divided government having a problem with Russia seems to be one of the few happy consensus points in Washington. The only problem, of course, is how that consensus is built more upon ...

07.02.2015

NATO: A Mighty Wind, Signifying Nothing

... are just empty gestures, more cruelty to Ukraine than deterrent to Russia. Does anyone in their right mind think Russia worries more about microphone asides from the American President compared to official French and German policy? I have a bridge to Crimea to sell you if you believe that. Which is an interesting segue come to think of it! In the West one of the more powerful arguments ‘proving’ so-called Russian aggression is the fact that Russia wants to secure areas in Eastern Ukraine ...

09.09.2014

To Live and Die in Donetsk

... all parties across the world would universally praise and support their removal of the president, they badly analyzed the situation on the ground in eastern Ukraine. In several media interviews I gave in the United States following the referendum in Crimea, I warned that the greatest possible danger in Ukraine would be civil groups in major eastern Ukrainian cities looking to Crimea as a model to emulate and at the Crimean referendum as a precedent to follow. The reason I said back then that this was the greatest ...

16.06.2014

The Unintended Consequence of Maidan

... presumptuous: while they are quick to lay blame on Russia now, it is obvious going back two months that they were completely caught unaware and off-guard that anyone on the outside would have words or actions for their behavior other than simple congratulatory ... ... calls. Obviously, this has proven to be a rather large mistake. A second aspect to play out from the Maidan revolution (the Crimean referendum) is also rather unique and an academic ‘special case study’ worthy of greater attention that as ...

10.05.2014

Putin and the West: To Dance or Not to Dance?

... like it. Even worse, they cannot stand the possibility that this game of chicken ended with only one round and no opportunity to regain the upper hand. Thus, it really isn’t about how horrible it was for Russia to ‘annex’ Crimea (with Crimean consent) and do it basically without any violence. What is most horrible to these rather dull thinkers still stuck in and/or pining for the return of a Cold War environment full of purpose and dire circumstances is that they won’t get the chance to beat Russia back or deliver a diplomatic defeat of the same intensity that they feel they just received themselves. Thus, this situation CANNOT be just about ...

01.04.2014

Beware the Sheep with Fangs

... rather than because she believes she can better the plight of the Ukrainian people. I don’t take the hacked recording seriously, even if real, simply because it comes off not so much as a viable threat – Ukrainians being incited to kill Crimeans – as it does whining from the political losers. But that doesn’t make it any less relevant that Tymoshenko felt empowered to speak that way and formulate her thoughts in such barbaric and base terms. Beware the sheep with fangs, Ukraine. In the end the blood it spills might just be your own and for no good reason other than to satisfy its own power lust.

25.03.2014

Что Делать, или, Куда Дальше?

... half-measured, ill-conceived attempts to retake Crimea would be counter-productive and potentially dangerous. Why the United States should be disappointed: Russia outplayed it. Not only did the US not anticipate the initial Russian maneuvers into Crimea, subsequent ‘threats’ and ‘warnings’ from American authorities have not so much fallen on deaf ears as amused ones: when a Presidential aide to Vladimir Putin reacts to sanctions by saying the only thing relevant to him about America is the deceased iconic rapper Tupac Shakur,...

21.03.2014

How to Make a Russian Demon: Western Media 101

... of the journalists who wrote and contributed to the above Reuters piece and I am sure they take their profession with the utmost seriousness and have high personal standards of integrity. The problem, as I mentioned, is a pervasive subconscious Cold War residue that has major influence on how uninformed readers around the world learn about the situation in Crimea and Russia’s role there. For example, the 1992 constitution mentioned above is the UKRAINIAN Constitution, not the Russian. It does indeed grant the Crimean region effective independence within Ukraine AND the right to determine its own path ...

17.03.2014

America: The Geopolitical Prom Queen?

... geopolitical prom queen: In the past it has warned Russia about how it acted with Chechnya, China, Venezuela, Iran, and Syria, but ultimately did nothing. It is now warning Russia that ‘there will be costs’ if it acts inappropriately in Crimea and onward with greater Ukraine. One might forgive Russia if it reacts to such warnings with a giant foreign policy yawn. Let us look briefly at Ukraine: Yanukovych was a thug. But he was a thug popularly elected in his own country. But he was elected via means ...

15.03.2014

Poll conducted

  1. In your opinion, what are the US long-term goals for Russia?
    U.S. wants to establish partnership relations with Russia on condition that it meets the U.S. requirements  
     33 (31%)
    U.S. wants to deter Russia’s military and political activity  
     30 (28%)
    U.S. wants to dissolve Russia  
     24 (22%)
    U.S. wants to establish alliance relations with Russia under the US conditions to rival China  
     21 (19%)
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