Josh Marshall recently told everyone to calm down about Russia --
No, Sorry, There's Not Ever Going to Be Another Cold War with Russia ... Russia poses little if any geopolitical risk to the United States or its vital interests. It is at best an irritant on the margins. Nowhere is this better illustrated than by the fact that almost the entirety of Russia's foreign policy is tied up with trying to solidify dominant relationships with the countries ringing its borders, almost all of which were part of the Soviet Union, their so-called 'near abroad'.
Reuters --
President Vladimir Putin's order on Wednesday for soldiers to be ready for war games near Ukraine was the Kremlin's boldest gesture yet after days of sabre rattling since its ally Yanukovich was ousted at the weekend. Moscow denied that the previously unannounced drill in its western military district was linked to events in its neighbor but it came amid a series of increasingly strident statements about the fate of Russian citizens and interests.
It's very strange to downgrade the potential problems of a Russia obsessed with its near abroad, since the power games around that explain a lot of 19th century history and thus the lead-in to two world wars. And as Ms Palin pointed out, one of those borders is with Alaska!
No, Sorry, There's Not Ever Going to Be Another Cold War with Russia ... Russia poses little if any geopolitical risk to the United States or its vital interests. It is at best an irritant on the margins. Nowhere is this better illustrated than by the fact that almost the entirety of Russia's foreign policy is tied up with trying to solidify dominant relationships with the countries ringing its borders, almost all of which were part of the Soviet Union, their so-called 'near abroad'.
Reuters --
President Vladimir Putin's order on Wednesday for soldiers to be ready for war games near Ukraine was the Kremlin's boldest gesture yet after days of sabre rattling since its ally Yanukovich was ousted at the weekend. Moscow denied that the previously unannounced drill in its western military district was linked to events in its neighbor but it came amid a series of increasingly strident statements about the fate of Russian citizens and interests.
It's very strange to downgrade the potential problems of a Russia obsessed with its near abroad, since the power games around that explain a lot of 19th century history and thus the lead-in to two world wars. And as Ms Palin pointed out, one of those borders is with Alaska!