The Ukraine crisis – is it hopeless?
I do think Obama’s foreign policy vagueness and lack of real resolution has probably weakened the U.S. position in a quickly changing world.
This statement particularly struck me:
“We are not just considering … it is likely we will put [sanctions] in place” without some sign of Russian retreat, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. “We are preparing options and we are likely moving down that path.”
More vagueness. RUSSIA INVADED UKRAINE. You are “likely to put sanctions in place without signs of a Russian retreat”? What about sanctions for what Russia already did?
Of course U.S. allies aren’t being helpful either. Germany and Italy and Spain are opposed to kicking Russia out of the G-8.
And the UK has an addendum (they tried to hide) to financial sanctions which would exempt the City of London! That’s ridiculous!
It shows Russia’s ultimate strength here. They have oil and resources needed by regional countries. And great economic strength now too.
This could be the tipping point where the U.S. starts its retreat as a world power. On the one hand, maybe that’s good? Still, I would feel uneasy living in a world where all the rules are written by China and Russia.
Obama can talk big but everyone knows we’re not going to put troops on the ground and sanctions don’t ever seem to work. The total impact of the blustering he has been doing is probably that it amuses to the Russians.
As far as being a world power, I think our problem since WWII been lack of direction. We still have by far the strongest military force on the planet but we can’t ever figure out what to do with it. In Iraq and Afghanistan the end result is exactly the same as what happened in Vietnam: lots of dead and disabled people (both military and civilian) and no real change to the long term situation. Our politicians just don’t seem to grasp that all you can really accomplish with a military force is take ground and hold it. Since that is never part of our strategic plan, having a large military doesn’t accomplish much.
I’m not suggesting that we should take Ukraine’s side in this conflict, I frankly don’t care which side wins and I don’t see that the outcome significantly affects me or anyone I care about. My point is that our military strength, or our status as a world power, is really insignificant in the long term unless we decide to make Ukraine the 51st state.