It's a great article -- I have one question ...

[libra]

We could be looking at the start of WW III and we don't even know it, How did WW I start, an assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. ( Were the shooting down of a civilian airliner not the assassination of a 100 people ??) How did WW II start. One country invading another ( Is Putin not invading another country??) and the west will do Nothing

[Meursault]

We could be looking at the start of WW III and we don't even know it, How did WW I start, an assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. ( Were the shooting down of a civilian airliner not the assassination of a 100 people ??) How did WW II start. One country invading another ( Is Putin not invading another country??) and the west will do Nothing

NO.

Im pretty sure that if putin wanted to start WWIII, hed have done it by now and second of all, there would be a coup in the kremlin to displace him.

Ye are making putin out to be some tyrranical monster in the mould of hitler or stalin, which he is not. Hes a shrewd guy and he knows that war is not in the best interests of a stumbling russian economy. What he is doing and i dont agree with his influence on ukraine, but i understand it, is trying to protect russian interests in that region.

Some of ye are so creative ye should be writing science fiction.....

[Stephanie]

NO.

Im pretty sure that if putin wanted to start WWIII, hed have done it by now and second of all, there would be a coup in the kremlin to displace him.

Ye are making putin out to be some tyrranical monster in the mould of hitler or stalin, which he is not. Hes a shrewd guy and he knows that war is not in the best interests of a stumbling russian economy. What he is doing and i dont agree with his influence on ukraine, but i understand it, is trying to protect russian interests in that region.

Some of ye are so creative ye should be writing science fiction.....

His economy is stumbling because of the ever incresing sanctions against him. Doh

"protect russian interests in that region." -- bs.

[Stephanie]

i doubt they want to risk war especially on each others doorsteps over sectarianism in ukraine.

It's not sectarianism. It is Russia invading a neighboring state.


"Kiev and its allies in Europe and the United States say the new rebel offensive has been backed by armoured columns of more than 1,000 Russian troops fighting openly to support the insurgents. The rebels themselves say thousands of Russian troops have fought on their behalf while "on leave".

Moscow denies its troops are fighting in Ukraine and says a small party of its soldiers crossed the border by accident."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0GS10C20140831

[Meursault]

His economy is stumbling because of the ever incresing sanctions against him. Doh

That i agree with. But a more westernised ukraine would do more trade with europe and russia would lose out. ECONOMICALLY. Lest i remind you, that this whole thing kicked off over a trade deal that europe was attempting to negotiate with ukraine

"protect russian interests in that region." -- bs.

If you had a halting site being set up beside your house, wouldnt you do everything possible to try and stop them from setting up. But with regards russia, it is mainly financial their worry. You have to remember that america has bases all around russia with ICBMs with ranges of about 6000 kms(minimum), so having bases in the ukraine doesnt make much of difference. If they wanted to attack russia they could regardless of influence in ukraine.

So why then the whole debacle? Putin is using sectarianism in ukraine as a front to try and keep control of them financially as a trade partner. he doesnt want to start war and has no interest in the ukrainian people and turning them russian. If europe started trading better with the ukraine, russia would lose out. That is the pretext.....

People can go on and on about how putin is a monster, which he is not. Russia is stocked with nuclear war heads. he could end the world tommorow if he wished. They dropped a 50 Mega tonne equivalent bomb near the artic that was so big it was felt over in america. If you dropped one in offaly, it would knock liverpool to the ground...... He is trying to protect the russian economy in the same way the irish government is trying to maintain our low rate of corporation tax, because it is good for the economy. Putin if he was that way inclined could wipe europe off the map in an hour if he wished....

[Meursault]

It's not sectarianism. It is Russia invading a neighboring state.


"Kiev and its allies in Europe and the United States say the new rebel offensive has been backed by armoured columns of more than 1,000 Russian troops fighting openly to support the insurgents. The rebels themselves say thousands of Russian troops have fought on their behalf while "on leave".

Moscow denies its troops are fighting in Ukraine and says a small party of its soldiers crossed the border by accident."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0GS10C20140831

stephanie: The crimea was handed back to russia because of the strong russian influence in that region in the same way northern ireland is fraught with struggles because you have a roughly 50/50 split between the religions. Now i dont even have to provide links to demonstrate that there is a large number of ethnic russians living in eastern ukraine. That the rebels have survived for so long there shows they have support. maybe not 50/50, but enough to keep the rebels afloat

[weeschmoo]

The Ukraine economy is a basket case, why they were keen to suck up to EU blandishments on expansion to the East. So more about having their hand out for preferential EU aid than trade.
http://www.economist.com/news/europe...-war-not-peace

[Stephanie]

If the Ukraine hadn't of disposed of all the nuclear weapons they inherited after the collapse of the USSR then they wouldn't have Russia invading and they wouldn't need NATO either. Lack of foresight on behalf of their leaders has led to this, they believed the West would protect them.

I dare say getting rid of the nukes was done a loooooong time ago , by a different set of leaders (Moscow puppets ?)

Shoulda , coulda , woulda , if ....

[warmcome]

send in a few nukes?

[Merryman]

Imo it is no longer a local issue.

Just as Ebola is not a local issue.

Just as Isis is not a local issue. Etc.


Unfortunately with all the benefits of globalization , we also need to deal with the drawbacks -- for a more harmonious world .

Never easy , mostly costly and painful , but it won't get better on its own , it won't go away.


In your opinion (hypothetically) at which point would Russia's aggression and land grab become more than a local misfortune ?

Invasion of Poland ? Invasion of other neighboring countries ? When will it be serious enough to take it seriously ?

What you would potentially be looking at is a WW3 scenario. That will be a last resort for the West. If I was a former member of the Soviet Union, I would not be comfortable about the West protecting me by standing over a WW3 scenario. A NATO Guarantee is your only real comfort.