[Leaning Right]

Territorial claims are often a tough call. Not that anyone asked me, but I look at it this way. One, is there validity to the claim? And two, is it worth getting the US into a conflict over that claim?

Take Crimea. The Russian claim on that territory is valid enough - in my mind - that it’s not worth getting the US involved. If Turkey or anyone else wants to get involved, that’s their business.

Now take, say, Estonia. As you noted, Estonia was once part of the Russian Empire. But I don’t see a Russian claim to Estonia as valid. For one thing, most people living there are a separate ethnic group.

So if Putin moves on Estonia, I’d take action. Not with tanks (too risky), but with a strong economic blockade, like was done to apartheid South Africa.

[Zhang Fei]

[So if Putin moves on Estonia, I’d take action. Not with tanks (too risky), but with a strong economic blockade, like was done to apartheid South Africa.]

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The Baltic states spend nothing on defense. Not a single country has an interceptor or a tank among them. I think we should let the Russians overrun them as a lesson to NATO members that think membership is some kind of free ride. And I say this knowing that Russia (along with its neighbor and rival, China) has an unspoken ethos of universal empire. We’re not Atlas. It’s OK if we shrug off the burden of being globocop to deliver salutary lessons every now and then.