You wrote “Bosnia” in your post #31. It’s the last word you wrote:
“So the Russians could not respond to a NATO move on Serbia by moving on a vulnerable NATO member. I suppose you would have seen no reason to enter North Africa in ‘42 as it was far from the actual target of Allied strategy. Yet 200k+ Wehrmacht troops were lost that could have played a role elsewhere.
The potential of an attack on a Baltic state could cause NATO to hold off a move on Bosnia.”
Link: https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4119271/posts?page=31#31
“Defending Serbia” is somewhere around #847 on Putin’s list of things to worry about right now.
The war in Ukraine is a proxy war between the US and Russia. Europe is not divided between Great Powers and their alliances as was the case when WWI broke out. The US is currently the world’s top Great Power* and we are the King Daddy of NATO. European countries traded their autonomy in the military department for security — it’s a sort of modern version of feudalism. All the NATO countries do as we say. They are mere vassals. Sure, there’s that cool round table thing our vassals sit around like in the days of King Arthur, but Uncle Sam sits in the King Chair and calls the shots.
*We’re still #1 in the Great Power department, but #2 China is gaining fast. Russia is a distant #3. We have acted very foolishly and squandered the two decades we reigned as the sole Great Power on, well, foolishness. So here we are. :(
“We have acted very foolishly and squandered the two decades we reigned as the sole Great Power on, well, foolishness.”
More like 3 decades, plus - and all we did during that time was make China stronger and stronger. Great way to stay as King-of-the-Hill. I’ll draw my conclusions on just how weak Russia is when the Ukraine War winds down.
These days the shots are called in Davos.