Ukraine's European Revolution?

[Zanza]

No plan?  Putin has been pretty open about viewing the disintegration of Soviet Union as a catastrophe to be rectified.  Seriously, must we repeat every single mistake we made 80 years ago?

Next: Anschluss of Belarus?

[PDH]

A cynical view is that the US is waiting for Putin to do something really nasty so that public opinion will be whipped up.  Of course, as Syt has shown the public is far less caring about what happens.

Commence atrocities!

[Syt]

What worries me is the message this sends to other Russians living outside Russia's borders.

E.g. Estonia and Latvia, both almost with 25% Russians, or even Lithuania with ~5%.

(A bit older map)

[The Brain]

A cynical view is that the US is waiting for Putin to do something really nasty so that public opinion will be whipped up.  Of course, as Syt has shown the public is far less caring about what happens.

Commence atrocities!

Why would he kill a giraffe?

[PDH]

Had Obama lost in '08 a far more savvy president would have been elected.  Of course, the stress of the job would have killed him and we would have President Palin at the helm of this crisis.

[DGuller]

No plan?  Putin has been pretty open about viewing the disintegration of Soviet Union as a catastrophe to be rectified.  Seriously, must we repeat every single mistake we made 80 years ago?

Next: Anschluss of Belarus?

That's what I was thinking.

[The Brain]

What worries me is the message this sends to other Russians living outside Russia's borders.

E.g. Estonia and Latvia, both almost with 25% Russians, or even Lithuania with ~5%.

You don't have to worry, Sweden has stated that we will not stand idly by if anyone messes with the Baltic states.

[PDH]

Why would he kill a giraffe?

A shirtless Putin would kill a giraffe with a machete and feast on the raw liver while taunting the starving lions.

[OttoVonBismarck]

To be honest while foreign policy rarely takes front and center the leader sets the tone. I think Americans cared about the bad Soviets because our Presidents didn't constantly call Russia partners/friends but instead openly talked about how the Soviet Union was our enemy, communism was a threat to our way of life, and it was an American responsibility to oppose both.

[The Brain]

Had Obama lost in '08 a far more savvy president would have been elected.  Of course, the stress of the job would have killed him and we would have President Palin at the helm of this crisis.

It is amusing how incredibly weak foreign policy presidents the US has had the past 20 years.

[DGuller]

What worries me is the message this sends to other Russians living outside Russia's borders.

E.g. Estonia and Latvia, both almost with 25% Russians, or even Lithuania with ~5%.

You don't have to worry, Sweden has stated that we will not stand idly by if anyone messes with the Baltic states.

Do you guys still have those ultra-low-profile tank destroyers?  I've always been curious how effective they are in combat.

[Queequeg]

Had Obama lost in '08 a far more savvy president would have been elected.  Of course, the stress of the job would have killed him and we would have President Palin at the helm of this crisis.

Savvy? McCain?

[DGuller]

To be honest while foreign policy rarely takes front and center the leader sets the tone. I think Americans cared about the bad Soviets because our Presidents didn't constantly call Russia partners/friends but instead openly talked about how the Soviet Union was our enemy, communism was a threat to our way of life, and it was an American responsibility to oppose both.

Hopefully at least one good that will come out of this clusterfuck is that Americans will realize that Cold War isn't over, Russia is the enemy, and that excessive focus on terrorism was a grave mistake that sapped our power.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Had Obama lost in '08 a far more savvy president would have been elected.  Of course, the stress of the job would have killed him and we would have President Palin at the helm of this crisis.

Historically American Presidents that were actually in wars have actually not been bellicose. I know McCain had a reputation as a hot head but I wonder what he'd have been like as President on foreign policy. I'm trying to think of where I would have seen him act differently than Obama, I think McCain would have handled this situation a lot better as he's a true Cold Warrior. But I also think he would have doubled down on our involvement in the Middle East which would have bogged us down and limited our ability to act elsewhere. I'm actually mildly pleased with how Obama has somewhat distanced us from dealing with the Middle East and I like the concept of his Pacific shift although I dislike that it appears to just be words in a speech and not any actual thing.

[The Brain]

What worries me is the message this sends to other Russians living outside Russia's borders.

E.g. Estonia and Latvia, both almost with 25% Russians, or even Lithuania with ~5%.

You don't have to worry, Sweden has stated that we will not stand idly by if anyone messes with the Baltic states.

Do you guys still have those ultra-low-profile tank destroyers?  I've always been curious how effective they are in combat.

Only as museum pieces. They were really cool.