Thursday, September 18, 2014

FP — A Premature Party for Poroshenko — Vladimir Putin is still setting the terms in Ukraine. Why is Washington okay with that?


A neocon version of Ukraine.

Conclusion:
By withholding military assistance to Ukraine -- the only thing that could have changed Putin's mind by giving Kiev a chance to turn the tide on the battlefield -- the West has greatly contributed to Poroshenko's decision to accept a very bad deal. No amount of ovation, not even a standing one, during Poroshenko's address to the joint session of Congress today can obscure this grim reality.
The neocon's are pouting because they haven't gotten the war with Russia they want.

Foreign Policy
A Premature Party for Poroshenko — Vladimir Putin is still setting the terms in Ukraine. Why is Washington okay with that?
Leon Aron

See also Paul J. Leaf, Time to End Ban on Weapons Sales to Vietnam — Washington needs a strong partner in Vietnam to counter Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, at The Diplomat.
China is a growing threat. Its military budget is the second largest in the world and almost surpasses those of the other twenty-four countries in East and South Asia combined. China has used these funds to field an impressive power-projecting arsenal and weapons meant to deny the U.S. access to its surrounding waters and airspace. Confident in its military strength and doubting U.S. resolve, Beijing has been aggressively advancing its claims over contested areas.
Leonid Bershidsky, Putin's Bullying Gets Scarier and Subtler, at Bloomberg View.
Europeans must again get used to living in Cold War times and hearing threatening noises from Moscow. They will remain no more than noises as long as Russia and NATO find a balance of mutual containment, as it was during the previous Cold War.

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