| Soundwave said: Putin isn't strong in this case ... people misunderstand something -- under Putin Russia has lost Ukraine and mismanaged the situation massively. Putin is also monumentally stupid for revving up the Cold War rhetoric, because if there's something both political parties in the US can rally around it's that Russian aggression needs to be dealt with. So now America is going to be given the greenlight by both parties with public support to spend tons of money helping Ukraine and so will other members of the EU. Whereas if they had kept this situation under control, there wouldn't be popular support for aiding Ukraine, but now everyone is going to come and help Ukraine pay down their debts and offer all types of trade/energy deals. |
Russia was going to lose Ukraine as soon as the government was overthrown and replaced with a new Pro-EU government. It was either lose the entire country or take a piece and show the West that Russia can do what it pleases. Russia is only a shadow of the Soviet Union but even so it managed to prove to the world that most Western leaders are not prepared to deal with a crisis such as the one in Crimea.
The only logical step is to reduce reliance on Russian natural resources but do you risk that to fall into the hands of your rival (China)? Putin knew that he had to act and gain something out of the situation, and he did. I doubt NATO will do much against Russia in the future as long as Russian natural resources benefit Europe.
I like your otimissim about Ukraine, however Ukraine has been suffering from mass corruption since becoming indepedant and these problems are likely going to continue at least into the near future. That alone is a major problem facing Ukraine and it's future and another thing, other than being a buffer with Russia what will Ukraine benefit to the West? As for your trade and energy deals, most of Ukraine's energy comes from Russia, so either if the West or Ukraine likes it or not Russia is going to continue to be a power in that region.
It's clear Putin is a stronger leader than Obama. By no means does that mean I support him, he's still a brutal dictator with a cult of personality around him but he puts his money where his mouth is. Obama is very idealistic, which is not a bad thing however he does not know how to deal with opposition and as a result his ideas fall short when it comes to practice.
