Ah, Europe. Where armies sloshed back and forth across the continent for centuries, slaughtering millions with gentlemanly manner to benefit egos. Things got a little out of hand with World War II however, and with the entire continent in ruin, the only non-rubbleized country sat across the ocean. Pax Americana with all the multi-national structures for world peace commenced.
Seems kinda stale now though. Like, why do we gotta keep wearing seat belts when there haven’t been any accidents lately?
“A lump of snow cannot be melted instantaneously. There is a certain limit of time in less than which no amount of heat can melt the snow. On the contrary the greater the heat the more solidified the remaining snow becomes.”
Tolstoy’s description of the “melting” of the Napolean’s army on its ill-fated retreat. Contrarily, attacking the forlorn troops actually forced a desperate collectiveness. Likewise, NATO would today could be melting, save Russia’s provocations.
We’ve already forgotten about the recession eight years ago. With WWII seventy years in the rear view, you think today’s nationalists want to submit to any foreign authority?
With so many people sick of multinational bureaucracies like NATO, if not for the pressing demands of Russia, it could be fading away while leaders gladly slash their defense budgets. The current rise in nationalism coupled with complacency puts NATO on the chopping block. Russia’s earlier moves were more subtle and defensible: The 2008/2011 Georgia conflicts, craftily weaponizing Syrian refugees to burden and fragment the EU, and the bloodless “annexation” of Crimea.
But Putin couldn’t stop there. He had too many toys to test in the field, and had to see how far his bullshit would fly.
I’d argue it crashed with the 298 innocents on flight MH17. Ukraine forcing Russia into open warfare exposed an overt aggressor.
Given the worldwide presence of the US military, an expansion of NATO into former USSR makes Russia understandably nervous. Hypothetically, any counterweight to this juggernaut superpower could be perceived to be in the world’s interest. With growing distrust of multinational institutions (elected leaders, and government in general) people across the globe could be more receptive to dissolving NATO now than ever.
But instead Putin compels its necessity, and global consensus of Russia keeps getting worse. He really leaves no choice.
#PoorPutin
