Comments on: This Week Crimea, Next Week Kyiv https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/this-week-crimea-next-week-kyiv-4949/ Military, Politics, Economy, Energy Security, Environment, Commodities Geopolitical Analysis & Forecasting Mon, 30 Apr 2018 20:25:40 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.14 By: deegee https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/this-week-crimea-next-week-kyiv-4949/#comment-775 Tue, 25 Mar 2014 18:32:17 +0000 http://geopoliticalmonitor.com/this-week-crimea-next-week-kyiv-4949/#comment-775 Does no-one remember the political run up to WW2?The re-occupation of the Rhineland,The Danzig Corridor,the annexation of Austria,The Sudatenland(all to protect and consolidate German speaking areas) and the US embargo of materials to Japan in the late 1930’s(which included oil supplies from the East Indies)The latter being the last straw for Japan and resulted in the attack on Pearle Harbour.Are the latest actions by Russia and the west not an echo of the past ??

]]> By: Andres https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/this-week-crimea-next-week-kyiv-4949/#comment-771 Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:35:35 +0000 http://geopoliticalmonitor.com/this-week-crimea-next-week-kyiv-4949/#comment-771 Mr Fitzroy,

I’m flabbergasted to find many scholars and commentators who seem to live on a bubble of Victorian Era’s "Rule Britannia".

"The posturing and bluster of Cameron and Hague to date is shameful and will leave an indelible blot on Britain’s credibility in the world security arena."

Do you really believe that the UK is a major World player? I cannot remember any significant British involvement in the World arena since 1982 without the nod from the US.

Do you really think that by freezing Russian assets other EU members will follow suit? France falters over cancelling the Mistral-class ship deal with Russia and Germany badly needs Russian gas.

http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2014/03/20/france-backtracks-on-threat-to-cancel-mistral-class-ship-deal-with-russia/

Have you considered that a massive ban of Russian assets may on the long run tilt the European financial power to Hamburg? This trend, which is a possibility given the promised 2017 UK referendum on the EU, may significantly hurt the most important UK economic sector. It will be a self-inflicted wound, similar to that of Tony Blair adamantly defending the Iraq invasion despite the bluff of Saddam’s WMD (THAT was indeed a "blot in Britain’s credibility"!)

Did you consider Russian retaliation measures such as delivering advanced weapons to Iran or Syria? That can irreversibly weaken the UK position to these countries.

You may not like Russia or share its World view and customs, and that’s OK, but many facts that you fill with extreme adjectives are plainly distorted:

– The Russian actions in South Osetia were preceded by a failed invasion from Georgia. Saakashvili believed that the West would back his adventure, but he miscalculated the situation.

– The Crimean Duma gladly voted the referendum. They didn’t need any "gunpoint" since the vast majority of Crimeans are pro-Russians, something not surprising since Crimea was transferred to Ukraine in 1954 after decades of being populated by newly-established Russians. No need to paint a picture of scared good Crimeans being forced by ugly Russians in uniform.

– East Ukraine is culturally and economically leant towards Moscow. No need to invent mobs or thugs to justify unrest there. These regions have much less to win than to lose with the integration to EU, since they cannot compete against German goods and French-subsidized crops.

– Yanukovich is indeed a criminal, but the oligarchs who supported the putsch have also behaved in similar ways, not to mention Timoshenko’s involvement in many corruption cases. Focusing too much on Yanukovich while closing your eyes to the questionable characters on the current government may help to justify the illegal coup d’état, but it doesn’t resist an unbalanced analysis of the situation.

Thanks,

Andres

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