We're back people! Looks like the things are cooling off again. It has a lot to do with this guy:
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| Credit: Alexei Druzhinin/RIA Novosti Kremlin, via Associated Press |
Putin would probably argue with that lingo–"invaded" is a strong word. But I won't get into semantics in this post. I'm more interested in something else: the US response to Russian expansionism.
I'm going to define Russian expansionism as Russia (in this case Putin) attempting to gain both land and influence around the world. There's a really interesting article about it from a German Media organization here. I'm gonna borrow some of their language: "Russia is responsible for the protection of all Russians no matter where they live, comes the message from Moscow. That strikes fear into its former Soviet Republics - and reminds them of recent history."
Translation: Putin is using protection of Russians to justify interfering in other countries' business. Kinda reminds me of a man called Adolf and the Sudetenland... But I won't draw comparisons out of respect for the Godwin Principal.
Okay. Where was I. Ah yes. US response. Here we go: Obama is using a tried an tested US policy to counter Russia: containment.
Obama seems to think that there is no hope of salvaging the US-Russia relationship, and instead is vying for an uneasy tolerance. Is that the right call? Or do you think we should try to meet Russia half-way? (This might be a teaser for Chapter 19 in the Gov textbook-- I don't know if that's where we're headed, but if we're getting to it, Mr. Silton you're welcome for the segway).
1 comment:
Right now, I believe that the media has played too much a role in our analysis and view of this issue. Reading articles from The Guardian, CNN, Foxnews (yes it's not quite news by some peoples' definition), and MSNBC, all of them seem to point the finger at Putin and Russia. This kind of unity is usually rare (especially between Fox and MSNBC), but the high degree of unification indicates that it's more of a Western media viewpoint than anything else. News from Russia (translated version of Moscow News) indicates that it's more of an independence issue for the Ukraine than anything else. At this point, I'm not sure if the news we're getting is unbiased and unfiltered enough to form a coherent position on the merits of this issue, especially since both sides are most likely undertaking covert operations in the region at the same time.
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