History is on the American/European side. Russia is not as strong as it makes itself out to be anymore. The population is in decline. They do not have the money the US and Europe do to spend on defense. Pound for pound, the Germans, British, Canadians, Americans, Australians, and French were much better fighters than the Russians.
It would not take long for the Americans to build up strategic military bases in Germany, UK, and France. And the Jets just scored. Jokinen!
History means nothing at this point. And in terms of strength, right now Russia has more strength closer to the Ukraine in terms of ground forces, in terms of Naval Forces, the American's have a marked advantage, but it evens out slightly due to location and geographic size.
In terms of air power, the American's have a edge, but I don't think that either side would have the capability to own the size.
On top of that, when I look at sheer leadership right now, I take the resolve and decisiveness of Putin over Nato leadership.
A suggestion from Quartz is to use the US Strategic Oil Reserve to target oil prices. I'm not so sure that Saudi Arabia is angry enough with Russia to go along with it, and I'm not so sure that the economics of it will work out. http://qz.com/185137/obama-is-unleas...hould-use-oil/
Currently they're several thousands Ukrainian soldiers that are effectively being besieged in their bases on the Crimea. Eventually they'll need to be resupplied and it should be possible to do it with Ukraine's Air Force.
Dunno if this has been touched on, I don't think so. I was reading that Japan is tied very closely to Russia's energy supply and probably won't be able to put much pressure on. And of course the biggest reason they need the energy so badly is because they shut down all their nuclear reactors after the Fukashima crisis.
I wouldn't want to poke the sleeping bear if I'm the Russians, but then again they have shown over and over again that they are not very competent.
I wonder if the Ukraine is Rasputin?
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You dont invade Russia unless your country ends in Stan
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It's ok guys, Assad says Russia is promoting security and stability in the region. Don't worry about it.
Quote:
Syrian President Bashar Assad says Russia’s military takeover of Crimea reflects President Vladimir Putin’s “wise policy” and his efforts to restore “security and stability” in Ukraine after an “attempted coup.”
Dunno if this has been touched on, I don't think so. I was reading that Japan is tied very closely to Russia's energy supply and probably won't be able to put much pressure on. And of course the biggest reason they need the energy so badly is because they shut down all their nuclear reactors after the Fukashima crisis.
I'm pretty sure that's why BC is trying to get that LNG storage and shipping terminals going. At least they will get a stable supply.
Dunno if this has been touched on, I don't think so. I was reading that Japan is tied very closely to Russia's energy supply and probably won't be able to put much pressure on. And of course the biggest reason they need the energy so badly is because they shut down all their nuclear reactors after the Fukashima crisis.
Which is why Japan recently announced that they are getting back into the nuclear power game
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All this strikes me as really stupid on Putins part.
Ukraine wasn't going to push Russia out of their navy base in Sevastopol, they just don't have the political strength to do that. But more importantly, given the instability of Ukraine in the last years and the ethnography of Crimea, just throwing some money at the right politicians in Crimea would have all but guaranteed a popular vote where Crimea decides to join Russia or some other result which amounts to the same thing. All the same results, none of the fuss.
Instead, Russia has now alienated all it's allies and created a generation that will fear and loathe Russia in Ukraine, a country that is still extremely important to Russian interests in many ways. Russia spent a lot of energy trying to shoulder it's way into the G8, but is now shut out, and generally the western countries are spending their time harassing Russia left and right. And make no mistake, long term the western powers have way more pull than Russia, due to their economic importance.
Sure, you can argue that Russia can't afford to support any votes on regional autonomy because of it's own minorities, but that would be assuming that Russia somehow doesn't want to appear hypocritical.
When I look at where China and Russia are now in the world stage, I can't help but feel that Putin is yet another in a long line of failures in Russian leadership. After the Cold War Russia and China started pretty much from the same place. China is now a genuine world power, countries are rushing to lick it's boots and bending over backward for Chinese investments, all the while pouring their money into China. China has moved forward leaps and bounds in the last two decades.
In contrast, Russia is now politically as isolated as it has basicly ever been in a hundred years. Infrastructure is still crap, emigration is still a problem, life expectancy is still crap, the country is an epimological problem child, and it's still seen as the Wild East, exotic and unpredictable, by investors.
Based on it's natural resources, population size, strong cultural heritage (and the current cultural scene), geographic position and military strength Russia should be a genuine superpower. But it's not. Because while the Russian elite might be great at short term powerplays like taking Crimea (a patch of land that's useful but hardly critical), they have no real interest in longterm development of anything.
(Just my current thoughts.)
Last edited by Itse; 03-07-2014 at 11:09 AM.
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Exp:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigtime
Tweet from a CNN guy a few minutes ago:
"US guided missile destroyer Truxtun has entered Istanbul's Bosphorus strait en route to black sea"
He took a pic of it too:
The dude running the Bosphorus Naval News blog is getting lazy. He hasn't posted that yet.
Wonder if this is a scheduled deployment? According to the Montruex Convention, a non Black Sea country needs to give the Turkish government 15 days notice before passing through the Turkish Straights. US ships were sailing the Black Sea during the Olympics to provide a security presense.
The dude running the Bosphorus Naval News blog is getting lazy. He hasn't posted that yet.
Wonder if this is a scheduled deployment? According to the Montruex Convention, a non Black Sea country needs to give the Turkish government 15 days notice before passing through the Turkish Straights. US ships were sailing the Black Sea during the Olympics to provide a security presense.
"Yeah y'all mind back dating that approval thingy, that'd be great."
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Exp:
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Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
"Yeah y'all mind back dating that approval thingy, that'd be great."
The US probably has a rolling 15 day approval. I still wonder if it's a scheduled deployment in the black sea? Sending a ship all by itself during a crisis situation doesn't seem to make much sense.
The US probably has a rolling 15 day approval. I still wonder if it's a scheduled deployment in the black sea? Sending a ship all by itself during a crisis situation doesn't seem to make much sense.
Its a trip line deployment. Nothing more then we dare you to shoot us, we're sitting here in a miniskirt in this park with no weapons.
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This is going to come off as incredibly ignorant, but I have no clue what's happening in Ukraine, nor do I know how it began. Is there a recap somewhere?
