STEPHEN COHEN: We are not at the beginning of the Cold War, a new one; we are well into it—which alerts us to the fact, just watching what you showed up there, that hot war is imaginable now, for the first time in my lifetime, my adult lifetime, since the Cuban missile crisis, hot war with Russia. It’s unlikely, but it’s conceivable. And if it’s conceivable, something has to be done about it.Alternet
A Hot War With Russia Is Conceivable: Top Scholar Stephen Cohen on Russia-Ukraine Crisis
Amy Goodman
I dont see how... I their press conferences today Putin said "they dont have the money" and Obama said they will "work even harder to get the deficit down"...
ReplyDeleteso looks like continued all quiet on the eastern front for now....
There are two major points of concern.
ReplyDeleteThe first is that there is always a contingent that is pushing for a military solution. There is a strong contingent pushing on this in the US lead by people like John Bolton. I have no way of knowing at this point about Russia, but it is true of China, too. There are hardliners in the PLA that believe that armed hostilities with the US are inevitable and game it as in the advantage of the US to strike preemptively sooner rather than later, as China becomes strong and more assertive of its global weight, pushing against US interests.
The second is a wildcard, like the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that touched or WWI. There's an eerily similar situation in play now on the ground in Ukraine, with a cohort there that sees it in its advantage to drawn NATO in militarily. There are also ongoing "issues" in Iran and Syria, not to mention the possibility of something involving Israel that would entail a US response. Then there is the delicate situation between China and Japan. There's also the ultimate wildcard — North Korea. This deck is filled with wildcards.
Ah, the joy of living vicariously. No choice but to watch this poker game and hope that sanity will prevail. Can someone pass the popcorn?
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