Wednesday, April 2, 2014
NATO Military Chief Warns of Russian Invasion
NATO's military chief is warning that Russian troops could begin moving within 12 hours of being given an order to invade Ukraine. It is thought that there are around 40,000 Russian troops massed near the border of Ukraine. Such a move would lead to increased international isolation of Russia.
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The United States must seek to bring an end to this ordeal in a manner that does not result in a full-scale war. It would seem to me that the most logical course of action is for sales of natural gas to Europe to go through the roof and cripple the Russian economy. A poor Russia is a more innocuous Russia. Russia’s aggression should come as no surprise if one looks at Putin’s past as a colonel in the KGB and the stranglehold that he is has over the Russian people.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what the best course of action is. I'm afraid that if we cripple the Russian economy it will be like poking the bear. It may irritate them and make them desperate. With a declining economy, Putin may think that he has nothing to lose. This may catalyze everything and result in the war that all of us desperately want to avoid. I agree with Kerry who states that we shouldn't "use energy as a political weapon."
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, there is still no clear action involving Russia that will provide the most peaceful results. I agree with Olivia that it would be unwise to attempt to fight fire with fire as it will likely only infuriate the Russians. In addition, I'm not happy about the fact that members of the US marines will be deployed to Romania to deal with contingencies. I think this will only provoke Russia into more (probably negative) action.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I'm becoming a little more worrisome every time I hear something new about what's going on in Europe with Russia. I think that the US has to think very carefully before we make our next move, because it could cause something much bigger than we intended. Worst case scenario, Russia could take our deploying the marines to Romania as a move against them and feel the need to make an offensive move against the Ukraine. Although I hate saying this, I think we need to wait for Russia to make its next move before we do anything more.
ReplyDeleteLike the last couple weeks, there is a general unease in people's attitudes towards Russia. No one knows whats going to happen next. In response to Andrew's suggestion, that we raise natural gas prices in Russia and cripple their economy, though the idea might work, we can't actually do it. Because John Kerry has already stated that "energy supplies must not be used as a political weapon" and that "European Union and United States were taking "important steps" to make it harder for one state to hold another hostage to energy supplies," we can't can't raise gas prices in Russia otherwise we'll look very, very bad. Not only to the "opposing side", but also to our own.
ReplyDeleteOur government needs to be careful about how it acts. We don't want war right now. And since Putin is such a hothead, we don't exactly know what will and won't set him off. That being said, I'm not sure anyone knows what would be the best thing to do now.
ReplyDeleteI usually take pride in being able to call our government a "world police". We insert ourselves into issues for the sole purpose of solving it and also ensuring that we have the best possible outcome. However, in this instance, I believe that it is absolutely best if we stay the heck out of it. Let NATO and other European countries prevent an invasion while we stand in the background and watch. I believe it would be foolish for us to try stop Russia because the only way we could totally stop them is to fight fire with fire.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Ethan. We really only have two options here. We either step in and cause a full fledged war, or we stand back and let Europe settle this. We really don't need to be involved in another war right now so I feel that it is best that the United States just takes a step back from this one. Seriously though, do we need to have problems with Russia? A war with them would drag on forever and it is just completely unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteThe lining up of troops on either side of the Ukrainian border is worrisome. I don't think either side would go so far as to escalate the conflict to an intercontinental level, but it's a possibility worth taking every step to avoid. I like Kerry's plan to reduce Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy, as I think that's the first step to settling the conflict in our favor. If it comes to escalated physical conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it would be very helpful for Ukraine to be supported by western countries with resources.
ReplyDeleteI think the comment made by Russian's foreign minister was somewhat ironic because Russia is the one moving into Ukraine and hiking up natural gas prices for them. The US and other countries on the other had are moving to support Ukraine and help it become less dependent on Russia. Russia has given so much support in the way on energy, that as they pull away Ukraine could crumble if it is not helped other nations.
ReplyDeleteObviously we need to work not to incite further conflict, especially global conflict. Our best move is to remain as outside of this conflict as it can. Supporting Ukraine in a passive way and letting it get on even grounds with Russia is a good option. But, this conflict is due to long rooted problems that might lead to secession of Russian supported and European Union supported countries
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