03-08-2014, 01:55 PM
I think Putin makes political decisions based on emotion, ego, and unrealistic dreams too often. He went from publicly stating that Russia wouldn't support an uprising in Ukraine to diving right in and stoking Crimea secession in like a week.
Does Putin want to rebuild the Russian empire of the Soviet Union days? I think so. I think it's his dream to be the architect of that rebuilding project whilst being seen as a hero to "his" people and a defiant badass who puts the West in its place to others in the East. I don't think he's gonna succeed in creating himself such a legacy unless he allows himself to be checked by advisers, he's too reckless on his own. ALL JMO.
I recreated and modified a map that pictorially reflects the cultural/linguistic divide in the Ukraine and how Putin's influence in the country was threatened when the pro-Russian Ukranian leader was ousted last month.
![[Image: 631e45be-cf61-42a6-86c9-f4dee3a2bace_zps...1394298803]](http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s500/HairOfTheDog1337/631e45be-cf61-42a6-86c9-f4dee3a2bace_zps08cc20f3.jpg?t=1394298803)
Though they've reportedly felt neglected and unheard by NATO for years in regards to the perceived threat of Russian hopes to take over in the region, the Baltics and Poland are now receiving the NATO military support they'd been requesting for a decade. The US sent six warplanes to Lithuania on Thursday and ten are en-route to Poland.
The impacts of the conflict within the Ukraine, and between the Ukraine and Russia, have potentially far-reaching impacts on a lot of people. It can still be de-escalated, IMO. Odd that we're once again in a situation where it seems the fate of many rests on the shoulders of one man.
Map Ref: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/...rimea.html
Does Putin want to rebuild the Russian empire of the Soviet Union days? I think so. I think it's his dream to be the architect of that rebuilding project whilst being seen as a hero to "his" people and a defiant badass who puts the West in its place to others in the East. I don't think he's gonna succeed in creating himself such a legacy unless he allows himself to be checked by advisers, he's too reckless on his own. ALL JMO.
I recreated and modified a map that pictorially reflects the cultural/linguistic divide in the Ukraine and how Putin's influence in the country was threatened when the pro-Russian Ukranian leader was ousted last month.
Though they've reportedly felt neglected and unheard by NATO for years in regards to the perceived threat of Russian hopes to take over in the region, the Baltics and Poland are now receiving the NATO military support they'd been requesting for a decade. The US sent six warplanes to Lithuania on Thursday and ten are en-route to Poland.
The impacts of the conflict within the Ukraine, and between the Ukraine and Russia, have potentially far-reaching impacts on a lot of people. It can still be de-escalated, IMO. Odd that we're once again in a situation where it seems the fate of many rests on the shoulders of one man.
Map Ref: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/...rimea.html