Obama and Kerry can rant, pout and say anything that comes to mind. The bottom line is that Putin bloodlessly fulfilled a nationalist yearning by reincorporating Crimea into Russia. The West can no more prevent it any more than it could prevent China from seizing Tibet.The Germans will never agree to effective sanctions since they realize the Russians would retaliate by curtailing energy supplies and that would put the EU economy into a tailspin. Putin has humiliated Obama and has hurt the West’s standing. Iran is clapping and China no doubt feels less constrained.
Obama and Kerry can rant, pout and say anything that comes to mind. The bottom line is that Putin bloodlessly fulfilled a nationalist yearning by reincorporating Crimea into Russia. The West can no more prevent it any more than it could prevent China from seizing Tibet.The Germans will never agree to effective sanctions since they realize the Russians would retaliate by curtailing energy supplies and that would put the EU economy into a tailspin.
That’s false. There are plenty of Russian assests in the west that can be expropriated if Putin wants to play economic terrorist.
Beyond economics there are also a range of non direct military actions like establishing a large NATO presence in the former SU that would humiliate Putin and give him pause.
The bottom line is none of that is going to happen not because Putin can turn off the lights but because the EU banksters are worried about losing their cut of the Russian kleptocracy. There is no leadership in the west right now to reign in the corporatists and it is showing.
The EU is abandoning all of eastern europe to the Russians with their eyes wide open. They will do nothing when he rolls tanks through a NATO country like Estonia. NATO deterrence died in Ukraine. From now on it is a paper tiger and Putin will happily poke it. Soon.
Let's pray things can hold together long enough for a Republican to be elected President... because you're right on every count...