It continues to amaze me when Obama supporters reflexively, without thinking, say that sanctions are going to constrain or even defeat Vladimir Putin. Sanctions are good and necessary. But in no way can sanctions constrain Russian aggression, remove Russia from Ukraine, or deter Russia from further aggression. For many reasons, some elaborated at the link, sanctions are likely to increase Russian aggression, in part because they remove points of western leverage (nothing left to lose), and in part because they exacerbate the psychodynamics of Russian paranoia and nationalism. For thwarting Russian aggression there is no alternative to military force, either by Ukraine, supplied with western arms, or, if that fails, by direct engagement by NATO armies. This is the reality. Options are limited. realclearworld/articles/2014/11/17/conditions_favor_an_expansion_of_putins_aggression_110808.html
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 05:04:13 +0000