Tuesday, March 25, 2014

What to do in Ukraine?


STRATFOR; From Estonia to Azerbaijan: American Strategy After Ukraine   "Whatever the origins of the events in Ukraine, the United States is now engaged in a confrontation with Russia. The Russians believe that the United States was the prime mover behind regime change in Ukraine. At the very least, the Russians intend to reverse events in Ukraine. At most, the Russians have reached the conclusion that the United States intends to undermine Russia's power. They will resist. The United States has the option of declining confrontation, engaging in meaningless sanctions against individuals and allowing events to take their course. Alternatively, the United States can choose to engage and confront the Russians."

"A failure to engage at this point would cause countries around Russia's periphery, from Estonia to Azerbaijan, to conclude that with the United States withdrawn and Europe fragmented, they must reach an accommodation with Russia. This will expand Russian power and open the door to Russian influence spreading on the European Peninsula itself." ....
....  "Nor can the United States confine itself to gestures like sanctions on 20 people. This is not seen as a sign of resolve as much as weakness." ....
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By George Friedman

France suspends ‘most’ military cooperation with Russia
Pesky Facts

Don't Kid Yourself about Ukraine  ... "Does NATO really want to raise the ante with Obama, Kerry, Power, Hagel, Clapper, and Brennan at the helm? A chronically weak American politburo might not be the best team to field in a spat over Ukraine. And a government, nay an administration, which cannot manage a website in the digital age, is not one likely to prosecute a successful economic or shooting war, one with atomic potential." ...

 Get Putin's attention by reviving the missile defense in Poland  Time to reverse a very bad decision made by a rookie president with no foreign policy experience. Obama gave his lunch money to the school bully as soon as he got to school.

Senator John Cornyn writes: How to Maximize Our Leverage with Putin  "Of the three biggest U.S. diplomatic “victories” often attributed to the reset — greater Russian cooperation on Afghanistan, the New START arms-control treaty, and Russian support for fresh U.N. sanctions on Iran — only the first one (persuading Moscow to let our Afghan supply routes pass through Russian territory) looks like a genuine, durable achievement from the vantage point of March 2014."

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