Don’t Poke the Russian Bear
American policymakers don’t get it; the politicians don’t get it; Fox News certainly doesn’t get it; the advocates for various flavors and colors of democracy don’t get it. And in not getting it, they are pushing the United States down the road to confrontation with Russia.
It’s not about democracy. It’s not about annexation. It’s not about aggression or a new Munich. It’s not about a return to the Cold War. It’s about centuries-old Russian paranoia about the states on its borders and what Moscow think the Europeans, the Chinese, or the Americans are up to in its near abroad.
The Ukraine crisis, at its heart, is about the realities of the interstate system, which has only been around for more than 400 years, particularly in the Eurasian region. But a lot of people seem to have an emotional investment in a different answer than reality.
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