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it has been approximate 1 generation since the fall of the Soviet union. it was never a question of "if" Russia would restablish itself as a very important worl
by ryanx435 12y ago
it has been approximate 1 generation since the fall of the Soviet union. it was never a question of "if" Russia would restablish itself as a very important world power, it has always been a question of "when."
Russia will go to war because it has to in order to be recognized on the world stage as a serious power player. if they back down now, they will look like fools and lose immense political power.
the only question is if it will go nuclear or not. my hope is that the nuclear option is simply rhetoric to keep the west out of their invasion of Ukraine. but that's the thing: it is impossible to know if it is or jot, so we have to assume they are willing to use nukes to accomplish their goals.
cold war 2 has already started, no question about it. let's keep it from going hot. mutually assured destruction is still very much a possibility.
*I'm on my phone. please excuse spelling mistake.
- Havoc 12y ago>my hope is that the nuclear option is simply rhetoric Forgive my ignorance, but this is the first I hear of Russia & nuclear? Sure lots of posturing on the border etc...but talk of the nuclear option is quite another matter.
- panarky 12y agoPutin's rhetoric took an ominous turn this week with references to nukes and Nazis. I'll discount Putin's statements to his adversaries. More importantly he appears to be preparing his domestic audience for war. From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/29/putin-kiev-nazis_n_5738622.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/29/putin-kiev-nazis_n_... [Putin's] tone grew intense while he spoke about Russia's military might, reminding the crowd that Russia was a strong nuclear power. "Russia's partners... should understand it's best not to mess with us," Putin said. Putin compared Kiev's assault on the rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk to the 900-day Nazi siege of Leningrad in which 1 million civilians died, perhaps the most powerful historical analogy it is possible to invoke in Russia. Then Ukraine played the NATO card. It's hard to see how this ends peacefully. Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told a government meeting on Friday the cabinet would "bring before parliament a law to scrap the non-aligned status of the Ukrainian state and establish a course towards membership of NATO".
- Havoc 12y agoThanks - highly relevant response & good info. I still think it won't come to an actual war though (in the sense envisioned by the article) per my logic here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8248025 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8248025
- deepsun 12y agoBy the way -- don't trust too much Putin's words. He said on camera that there were no Russian troops in Crimea. Russian Minister of Defense (Sergey Shoygu) did as well. Now he's saying there are no Russian troops in Ukraine, right after they captured Novoazovsk city yesterday and are advancing to Mariupol' right now.