Posted on 11/09/2014 10:20:02 PM PST by Olog-hai
Chess legend Garry Kasparov was once the pride of the Soviet Union. But 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall he lives in exile, accusing Russian leader Vladimir Putin of “strategic failure” and the EU establishment of “ignorance” in its dealings with Moscow. […]
“What we are seeing in Russia is a resurgence of imperialism and nationalism in its most dangerous form,” he said, comparing Russia’s actions in Ukraine and Putin’s domestic propaganda to Nazi Germany on the eve of World War II. “Just read what Putin has been saying in his [anti-West] speeches in the past year. It’s 24/7 brainwashing of the Russian people … pure lies”. […]
“The more ground you cede to Putin, the more dangerous he becomes … tomorrow the price of stopping him will go up. The day after, it will be even higher. There is a serious risk that he will do in [NATO member] Estonia what he is doing in Ukraine. Then we might hear the same voices we are hearing now: ‘Why should we die for some country we can hardly identify on the map?’ And that will be the end of NATO.” …
(Excerpt) Read more at euobserver.com ...
No argument from me, but the EU needs to be spearheadng it. Not our military.
Allowing Turkey to remain in NATO should be grounds for it's demise alone.
You don’t want that to happen. The last thing the EU needs to become is a so-called “third power”.
If Obama wants the EU (not “Euorpe”) spearheading any such pushback against Putin (the USA is the chief target of his ire, remember), why should we want it?
It may be wise to listen to a guy who’s pretty much a genuis when it comes to predicting the moves of his opponent, especially when that opponent has absolutely no opposition from a certain Kenyan.
Now that I agree with. Real well-poisoner there.
The West will never learn.
IF you are alluding that the need would need to significantly "militarize" Eurpoe, then I agree. But I don't think that is the case.
Not that there is a particular need (I do not regard Putin’s threats to nuke Poland and Ukraine as empty, though), but the European Union elites have been pushing for centralized EU militarization for a long time and this would give them the excuse more than other threats.
Let me add, that through my 50 or so years of watching geopolitical events, I seem to be trending toward an isolationist slant than in the past. Reason? Being $17T in debt for one. Our days of subsidizing the policing of the world should be waning. And if this means gradually growing the military power of Japan, and Europe, then so be it.
You don’t want anyone else to police the world. Except for maybe Britain (including its commonwealth) and Israel, the rest of them are interested in revanchism, expansionism and renewed imperialism in earnest. That means more war.
I disagree. This is EU expansion propaganda. Making the EU bigger and richer is turning them into a bully and a propaganda machine.
I am not saying Putin is perfect or that he doesn’t play into their hands. But this article is a distortion. The line was drawn when Ukraine chose EU over Russia. Putin reacted to that. Now EU wants to act like a disinterested third party just out to help Ukraine. That simply is not true.
Ok I will probably get flamed so I am just telling you I am not staying to fight this out. I just think the rising EU is more dangerous than Putin.
Russia is not going to just bow down and let their economy tank. They will go back to old ways first. The fault will be shared, though. It will forever be an opportunity lost.
Ukraine is too weak to be anything more than someone’s pawn. The question is simply whose pawn do they want to be.
The EU all together doesn’t have the backbone to attack the dollar. The US eliminated their waste and no Union can keep up.
I can see your point, as in evidence to Europe's history during the past 100 years. However, I do think you are over estimating the efficacy of the EU though. I still think it will eventually viewed as a failed experiment. The possible exit of the UK is already a leading indicator precursor.
China on the other hand is the threat that will be our most imminent and dangerous threat in the next 25-50 years.
I love your thoughtful comments. I learn so much reading threads like this. This is a great thread for developing thoughts and ideas and opinions about that very complex part of the world and how it fits into the even bigger picture. Thanks!
Versus...... Europe which has the events of (1) Pented up 1500 years of issues and arguments. (2)Extreme diverse cultural and language issues. A lot of this will eventually unravel the EU.
US Citizen: Stop Obama now or pay now!
I like that one...until we fix our own nation...other countries are going to have to fend for themselves...the US is in no position right now to aid anyone...not until Socialist Big Brother Barry (SBBB) gets out of office!
They are already steeped in accusations of corruption and conflicts of interest. But they keep expanding....and the accountability of those who run it to the people themselves is not good.
Plus they are overall liberal and anti-Israel.
I don’t see why they are allowed to sanction their competition. That seems like a conflict of interest and gives them an unfair advantage. Putin said it was like blackmail. He has a point. Of course Putin does not help himself with the military action. I think he feels he has no choice. That or he is just mad.
That’s nice, but . . .
America is facing a long list of other external threats, including Iran, ISIS, Al Qaeda, North Korea, and China.
America is facing a long list of internal threats, including Obamacare, $500B deficits, abortion mandates, gun grabbing, compulsory participation in gay marriage, FedGov snooping, speech codes that infringe on free speech, a flood of illegal aliens, a shrinking work force, “too big to fail” and related crony capitalist policies, and the rest of the damage that the far left fringe has inflicted or exacerbated over the past six terrible years.
Worst of all, America is led by the most incompetent and least loyal occupant our White House has ever experienced, a man who personifies evil. Kasparov is a bright man. I hope he doesn’t seriously think that Obama will make any of these problems better, let alone successfully stand up to Putin.
Sure.
Imagine Italian and French armies stuck in epic snow, with Russian tanks closing in ...
Germans know the word. Stalingrad ...
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