Obama: Ignoring Russian Aggression Would Have Global Consequences

[Mr Khan]

haxxiy said:

Nem said:
And yes i know, that there are economic interestes and bad exemples from the US, but that doesnt make Russia right.

It does make what Obama said wrong, though. For long the US has showcased that only might makes it right, as it always have been throughout human history, no matter how much they claim otherwise (as anyone can easily testify just googling the "democracy meme"). This year Russia is going to claim top spot as the largest GDP PPP on Europe, and has modernized her army over the last decade all the way to top three status worldwide.

Unlike as late as ten years ago, the US can be challenged by both Russia and China on the international scenario, thus ending its status as the world's sole leading hard power it had since 1991. You might think the US dropping democracy is funny, and Russia or China doing the same is scary, but back 30 or 40 years ago many countries actually messed with international politics like that. It's no different this time around, we just aren't used to it.

In time, the Crimean question will be no more of a "terrible precedent" than Indonesia annexing West New Guinea, or Turkey invading Cyprus, or North Vietnam annexing South Vietnam, or the PRC becoming the real China and Taiwan being sidelined by almost everyone.  Again, the illusion who arose after the end of the cold war that things on the 21st century are going to be any different politically, or better...

 

The global environment has been changing in that regard, however. Compare the amount of unilateral annexations or even border wars from Post WWII world to the pre WWII world.

All Crimea shows, in the end, is the continuing trend of ethnic gerrymandering and factionalism that has dominated, especially European politics since the fall of the Berlin wall. Russia is taking a majority ethnically Russian territory, much like how Venetia is having a vote to secede from Italy (nonbinding), or the Basques, Flemish, Scots, Catalonians, Chechens, Bosnian Serbs, Albanian expats, the mess with Hungary right now.

That it gives Putin an excuse to flex his muscles is largely aside the point. He wouldn't have gotten away with this if Crimea was solidly, ethnic Ukrainian.