
Cold War is over; US vs. Russia isn’t zero-sum - georgecmu
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2014/03/03/cold-war-over-russia-isn-zero-sum/Df9VSHeJFpKUz3tRKDjUXJ/story.html
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DanielBMarkham
I've read a dozen analyses on this situation today. This is one of the worst.

There's a danger in the U.S. of playing this as some sort of domestic
political game -- the hawks using an outdated playbook versus the doves
(perhaps not understanding reality well enough). This does a great disservice
to the actual situation on the ground.

Long and short of it: Russia gets to invade neighboring countries. Not much we
can do about it. That doesn't mean we should sit idly by. Calling out naked
aggression and hypocrisy is still part of our national fabric. It also doesn't
mean that this is a win for the Russians or a loss for the U.S. More
importantly, 1) Russia is increasingly using its army more and more while its
economy tanks, and 2) people of the former Soviet states just aren't going to
put up with the bullshit like they used to. That's Putin's problem, and the
more he lives in that fantasy world of his the more he's pushing the rest of
the world towards some sort of really unpleasant confrontation.

The situation isn't terrible (unless you live in the Ukraine) but the
trajectory is very disconcerting.

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lotsofmangos
Russia invades neighboring countries, for economic and strategic reasons while
bullshitting about invented risks, while the US and UK does much the same, but
goes for ones slightly further away. The trouble is, after the bullshit with
Iraq and the made-up WMD justification, we don't have much moral authority
here. At least the Russians haven't flattened Kiev like we did with Baghdad.

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ck2
Wait, because the US did something horrible that makes what Russia is doing
okay?

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lotsofmangos
No, it just makes it very hard for the US and UK governments to scold the
Russian one without them laughing.

~~~
ck2
Even the Germans cannot seem to get Putin to do a reality check.

Whom do you feel is qualified/going to be able to stop Putin from acting like
a bully?

~~~
lotsofmangos
Time. He's starting to look old. Before too long, that hard-man image he has
been cultivating will come around to bite him. Also, it is not too good an
idea to fill your borders with civil wars.

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ck2
There are bigger problems in that Putin is not acting like he is in touch with
reality:

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/106...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10673235/Ukraine-
crisis-Angry-Angela-Merkel-questions-whether-Putin-is-in-touch-with-
reality.html)

3500 troops and tanks on the Polish border is kinda scary.

