Vladimir Putin has always been a dangerous man. Having been head of the KGB and steeped in pre-independence Soviet culture, he mourns the loss of Russian influence and domination of the region. His annexing of the Crimea was just a prelude to see how far he can push the “west” and his build up of troops on the Ukrainian border more posturing to threaten the sovereignty of an country he considers to be to close to joining NATO. In many ways you can understand his fear that he would have western bases right on his border. Russia have in recent years done many things to de-stabilise the west and have launched a number of cyber attacks. Nobody knows how in other ways that are trying to undermine the fabric of western countries, who they still see as their enemy. Whether he goes a head with a full on invasion of Ukraine is debatable, he would be seen as “losing” face if he withdraws those troops but he may have made his point? Diplomacy seems to have fallen short and as usual al the normal posturing has been repeated. We threaten all sorts of action if he carries it any incursion and yet the truth is that the West has no appetite for a conflict and highly unlikely to mount any military response, if Putin does invade. The Ukraine will defend their country vigorously but the sheer might of the Russian military will overwhelm them.
Each time we think the world is getting safer and less likely to enter into another conflict, somewhere, somebody, reminds all of us that peace is a fragile mistress and always likely to be diminished. Many conflicts and wars have been running for so long that they almost never get reported any more, Yemen, Syria, etc for a full list https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/?category=us&vm=grid It will shock you how much potential there is for unrest and violence in our world?
We think we live in a peaceful country and yet our current government is passing legislation that curbs our rights as though they are terrified that the population is on the verge of revolution! There must be so much legislation on our statute books that it is impossible whether you would know if you have transgressed against a specific rule. Not that our PM care a jot about such rules!
Stay well
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