Thanks, Berry and Brandon

[JJ_BPK]

Thanks,
Berry and Brandon
The Test drive was great..
Vlad

Crimea: Six years after illegal annexation
Steven Pifer Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Editor's Note:

Six years after Russia illegally annexed Crimea, Ukraine lacks the leverage to restore sovereignty over the region, but the West should not accept it since doing so would only encourage Russia to believe it can get away with annexing territory from other countries, argues Steven Pifer. This post originally appeared on the Stanford CISAC's website.

March 18 marks the sixth anniversary of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. Attention now focuses on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in Donbas, a conflict that has taken some 14,000 lives, but Moscow’s seizure of Crimea — the biggest land-grab in Europe since World War II — has arguably done as much or more damage to Europe’s post-Cold War security order.

Crimea’s Illegal Annexation

Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution ended in late February 2014, when President Victor Yanukovych fled Kyiv — later to turn up in Russia — and the Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) appointed an acting president and acting prime minister to take charge. They made clear their intention to draw Ukraine closer to Europe by signing an association agreement with the European Union.

Almost immediately thereafter, armed men began occupying key facilities and checkpoints on the Crimean peninsula. Clearly professional soldiers by the way they handled themselves and their weapons, they wore Russian combat fatigues but with no identifying insignia. Ukrainians called them “little green men.” President Vladimir Putin at first flatly denied these were Russian soldiers, only to later admit that they were and award commendations to their commanders.


link:

[abc_123]

A presentation fro U of Chicago in 2015 on the Ukraine situation that talks about the possibility of having the very situation that we have going on right now. I don't think the presenter totally apologetic for Russian behavior but the presenter does highlight the West's role in getting the Ukraine situation to where it's at and the relative strategic importance of Ukraine to Russia vs to the United States. He also mentions the possibility of the West driving Russia towards our real threat, China, over Ukraine.

Anyway, it's interesting watching this 6+ years down the road ...

Why is Ukraine the West's Fault? Featuring John Mearsheimer
Sep 25, 2015

The University of Chicago
UnCommon Core: The Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine Crisis

John J. Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in Political Science

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4

[Trapper John]

Thanks Brother! This takes me back to the days of area studies. Finest kind

[abc_123]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

Thanks Brother! This takes me back to the days of area studies. Finest kind

Yes, sir. Now that the fight is on, it's a different ballgame now. However, i agree with the presenter that the current situation didn't have to happen. The current incompetent administration lowered the bar just enough to get this whole thing going.

Now Ukraine and it's people are caught in the middle. They will be bled white as the West bleeds Russia white.

And China finds an ally.

[Trapper John]

Originally Posted by abc_123

Yes, sir. Now that the fight is on, it's a different ballgame now. However, i agree with the presenter that the current situation didn't have to happen. The current incompetent administration lowered the bar just enough to get this whole thing going.

Now Ukraine and it's people are caught in the middle. They will be bled white as the West bleeds Russia white.

And China finds an ally.

You are absolutely correct, And once again for the 3rd time I am ashamed of the USA:

1. Reneging on our Agreement to arm the South Vietnamese Army leading to the disgraceful flight out of Saigon in '75.

2. Capitulation and effective surrender to the Taliban in A'stan.

3. Once again reneging on another promise, this time to defend a sovereign nation in order for them to destroy their nuclear weapons in return.


Now we won't even support a Russian no-fly zone while doing precisely that over Syria.

We have generated the Russia/China axis!

When have we seen a Euro/Asia axis before? And how did that turn out?