Watching the events unfold in the ongoing war of words between Russia and Ukraine, I find it reletively unsurprising that +Vladimir Putin would attempt something so bold. He’s causing mischief abroad to soak up support at home as a means of distracting the Russians from a practically free-falling economy. As a good means of keeping public support up at home meant attacking another sovereign nation within the "Near Abroad." By doing this, Putin's showed a complete disregard for any agreements that Russia's signed in helping to shape international law. In addition, it shows a complete disregard for any international law and national sovereignty of Russia's neighbors, this time being Ukraine. However, I will say this about Russians as a people: most are not like the current leadership in Moscow. As a people, they're largely docile and peaceful, and some of the most pleasant to be around. Another thing to bear in mind about Russian culture is that the people place a lot more emphasis on intellectuallism and pragmatism, rather than fierce ideology and violence.
All this mischief making was bound to get Putin in trouble sooner or later, and I think now it's pretty much gotten him in a deep hole. There's no denying it; even as events unfold in his favor, Putin's largely alienated any good will from national leaders (such as +Barack Obama and +Angela Merkel) that he needs to keep Russia afloat. Just as much as the West cannot get anywhere in solving problems without Russia, as history has proven time and again, the inverse is also true, as Russia cannot get anywhere solving problems at least current ones without the West. Both Obama and Merkel have noted a recent, yet disturbing, trend with Putin as of late, it's as if he's losing all connection to reality. If anything, an aggressive foreign policy and a leader whose spoken lines are badly slurred, it signals only one thing, a leader corrupted by vast power and money. Yet at the same time, Putin's also been saying several factors have to be strung together to get Russia's recognition of Ukraine's new governing administration, some of which do not coincide with each other. That's a sign also that someone's on the verge of a complete breakdown.
Turning to Ukraine, the deposed president of that nation, +Viktor Yanukovych, was an acolyte of Putin's, who only won the presidency in 2010 due to Putin's help. If anything, that's a classic case of Russia meddling in the affairs of its neighbors. Now that Yanukovych has lost power by fleeing to Moscow, he now has nothing to return to. The party that backed him, the Party of Regions, has said quite flatly they will not give him an ounce of support. It's apparent now that any return by Yanukovych to Ukraine would certainly see his arrest for his handling of the protests to start opening up the political rings to help solve problems, and his orders to violently suppress the protests in complete disregard of his citizen's lives. However, by fleeing to Russia, Yanukovych now has no connection to Ukraine at all, and now cannot credibly say anything on the people's behalf.
All this mischief making was bound to get Putin in trouble sooner or later, and I think now it's pretty much gotten him in a deep hole. There's no denying it; even as events unfold in his favor, Putin's largely alienated any good will from national leaders (such as +Barack Obama and +Angela Merkel) that he needs to keep Russia afloat. Just as much as the West cannot get anywhere in solving problems without Russia, as history has proven time and again, the inverse is also true, as Russia cannot get anywhere solving problems at least current ones without the West. Both Obama and Merkel have noted a recent, yet disturbing, trend with Putin as of late, it's as if he's losing all connection to reality. If anything, an aggressive foreign policy and a leader whose spoken lines are badly slurred, it signals only one thing, a leader corrupted by vast power and money. Yet at the same time, Putin's also been saying several factors have to be strung together to get Russia's recognition of Ukraine's new governing administration, some of which do not coincide with each other. That's a sign also that someone's on the verge of a complete breakdown.
Turning to Ukraine, the deposed president of that nation, +Viktor Yanukovych, was an acolyte of Putin's, who only won the presidency in 2010 due to Putin's help. If anything, that's a classic case of Russia meddling in the affairs of its neighbors. Now that Yanukovych has lost power by fleeing to Moscow, he now has nothing to return to. The party that backed him, the Party of Regions, has said quite flatly they will not give him an ounce of support. It's apparent now that any return by Yanukovych to Ukraine would certainly see his arrest for his handling of the protests to start opening up the political rings to help solve problems, and his orders to violently suppress the protests in complete disregard of his citizen's lives. However, by fleeing to Russia, Yanukovych now has no connection to Ukraine at all, and now cannot credibly say anything on the people's behalf.
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