America’s challenge in Ukraine
David Ignatius, WasPost, Published: March 20
Vladimir Putin baptized his conquest of Crimea with a powerful, unsettling speech that should be a warning that an embattled Russia is fighting for what it sees as its national dignity — in ways that require a firm and patient U.S. response.
Putin played all the strings of the balalaika in his speech Tuesday announcing the annexation of Crimea. He was, by turns: sentimental, sarcastic, resentful and intimidating. He put the world on notice that he is determined to restore Russia’s place as a leading nation, even as its domestic economic and political position decays.
Eerily, Putin painted the Cold War as a benign moment: “After the dissolution of bipolarity on the planet, we no longer have stability.” Putin’s cure, evidently, is a return to what he would see as principled confrontation of an arrogant America.
The gist of Putin’s argument is that Russia has been subject to “double standards,” with the United States “calling the same thing white today and black tomorrow.” For example, he said that the United States asserts a legal right for Kosovo to break away from Serbia but will not recognize Crimea’s split from Ukraine.
(More here.)
Vladimir Putin baptized his conquest of Crimea with a powerful, unsettling speech that should be a warning that an embattled Russia is fighting for what it sees as its national dignity — in ways that require a firm and patient U.S. response.
Putin played all the strings of the balalaika in his speech Tuesday announcing the annexation of Crimea. He was, by turns: sentimental, sarcastic, resentful and intimidating. He put the world on notice that he is determined to restore Russia’s place as a leading nation, even as its domestic economic and political position decays.
Eerily, Putin painted the Cold War as a benign moment: “After the dissolution of bipolarity on the planet, we no longer have stability.” Putin’s cure, evidently, is a return to what he would see as principled confrontation of an arrogant America.
The gist of Putin’s argument is that Russia has been subject to “double standards,” with the United States “calling the same thing white today and black tomorrow.” For example, he said that the United States asserts a legal right for Kosovo to break away from Serbia but will not recognize Crimea’s split from Ukraine.
(More here.)
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