The current conflict in the Ukraine - which political implications will it have?

The decision of Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovysh not to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union was the starting point of the still on-going Ukrainian crisis.  In this conflict, Russians and Ukrainians, who have historically had extremely close cultural ties, have been confronting each other. The western community, which does not seem to fully grasp the scope of the conflict, has not been a mediating factor in the conflict so far.  At the same time, although being criticized by European governments and the Obama administration, president Vladimir Putin enjoys increasing popularity in Russian society.  What next? How should the conflict be resolved? Which implications does it have on other post-Soviet countries? In the next posts, I will be aiming to touch upon several questions: - Why has the conflict in the Ukraine been so delicate for both the Russian and Ukrainian population? - Why do European governments and the Obama administration not seem to be able to diplomatically interact with president Putin? - To what extent does the current Ukrainian crisis impact Georgia’s inclusion in the western community? - Has the NATO membership of Eastern European countries in the 2000s been a success or rather a failure from a Western perspective? - What does NATO’s “Open Door Policy” still mean these days?