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Post by gailkate on Mar 20, 2014 13:37:57 GMT -5
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Post by doctork on Mar 20, 2014 23:19:31 GMT -5
My internet is misbehaving so I can't watch the video now, but will try again later.
I do not at all understand what's going on in the Ukraine. Crimea is a peninsula attached to mainland Ukraine, so how can the Russians take it over but not try to take over the rest of Ukraine? Yet the Russians have a big naval base in Crimea, so they aren't going to risk leaving it potentially in the hands of Ukraine.
Is this more domino theory? Or the start of another cold war?
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Post by BoatBabe on Mar 22, 2014 11:00:08 GMT -5
Oh, man! John Stewart nailed that one! And that IS pretty much where we are right now. I have thought that Putin is bent on gathering up all of the little states that used to be the U.S.S.R. (a party invitation not to be politely declined,) but now that we have the irrefutable mega-data information base of BODY LANGUAGE, I see that my suspicions are correct.  And the Comparison Theory . . . priceless. |
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Post by gailkate on Mar 22, 2014 14:32:31 GMT -5
Yeah, I have to remind myself to watch his show. It comes on a bit too early and then a bit late for when I might have the TV on, but he has a gift for seeing right through to the crazy kernel.
Domino theory? I guess that's what everyone is worried about, and maybe with reason. I can't figure it out, though, because Russia just doesn't have the power of the old USSR. But maybe with their oil and natural gas he's hoping for a resurgence. I'll never be able to look at him again without thinking of Lady Godiva.
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Post by Jane on Mar 22, 2014 18:42:42 GMT -5
Domino theory? Isn't that how we got embroiled in VietNam?
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Post by BoatBabe on Mar 24, 2014 9:09:38 GMT -5
Yup. Eisenhower gave the Domino Theory speech in 1954.
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Post by rogesgallery on Mar 24, 2014 11:33:52 GMT -5
Any insight as to why this doesn't play on my Iphone? Is my device too leftist maybe? |
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Post by joew on Mar 24, 2014 13:53:10 GMT -5
Putin is a dangerous man, IMO. In this case, I think he is harnessing popular sentiment among Russians in Crimea. It's not as if Crimea had always been part of the Ukraine. It was considered part of Russia, and in 1954 Khrushchev transferred it to the Ukraine. The fact that a majority of Crimeans wanted to be part of Russia isn't a fact Putin created, but it's something he took advantage of.
19th Century urban liberals largely created the idea of national self-determination and used it to unify Germany and Italy. It also justified breaking up the Austro-Hungarian Empire (the former Holy Roman Empire). I could go off on a tangent and suggest that this set in motion the chain of events which included the Franco-Prussian War, World Wars I and II, the Balkan War, and all their ripple effects. But at any rate, the idea of national self-determination is one we heartily embraced in Kosovo, to the detriment of the Russophile Serbs. Now can we oppose it simply because it benefits Russia?
What is needed is a theory of states which takes into account that ethnic minorities exist in many states, that there must be limits to the extent to which ethnic minorities can secede, that we need ways of guaranteeing the human rights of minorities short of dismembering countries, and that international stability is an important value.
Given all that has gone on, I think it would be vain to hope that Russia's annexation of Crimea can be reversed (other than by military force, which I don't consider justified under just war theory).
At the time Eisenhower proposed the Domino Theory, it made sense; and it seems highly likely that Putin would like to put the Soviet Union back together in some form.
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Post by Jane on Mar 24, 2014 18:57:38 GMT -5
Angela Merkel said about Putin, "I don't think he is quite sane." That makes sense to me. Yes, I think he is determined to re-form the old USSR and put himself in charge. With all our other hot spots throughout the world, I am certainly against any military action there. Our military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan have worked out so well. (Scathing sarcasm there.)
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Dopey Member
