1812 and all that.

Who's for invading Moscow? Time we had another blood-bath methinks!

Atlas wrote:Who's for invading Moscow? Time we had another blood-bath methinks!

After you then.

The story goes that Mr. Kruschev gave away the Crimea to the Ukraine when he was drunk, maybe that's just a story.

The USA has justified interfering in central America, and invading several countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, generally on the grounds of providing stability to global politics.

Russia now has a similar rationale for invading and re-taking the Crimea. It's a volatile part of the world, the Ukraine is a big country to be so much in flux, volatile and vulnerable. Having a stable Crimea may well bulwark it and contribute to political stability in that part of the world in the long run.

Europe is reacting to the breach of international law. International law is important to Europe because they have depended on it for world trade arrangements for centuries. The slave trade was legal in it's time. British privateers attacking Spanish galleons to steal their gold was legal at the time. There is a plain difference between what is legal and what is moral, but a framework of legality is essential for trade, and so for wealth.

Mr. Putin has decided that international law is subservient to the balance of power in this case.

The west can see the Crimea is gone, no amount of sabre rattling can get it back. It is arguably, basically Russian territory, slipped from it's grasp when the USSR was collapsing.

The west has to react somehow to uphold international law, important not only for trade but also for keeping the peace. Sanctions are the only option really.

Things went bad for the Ukraine when Stalin created a famine there, there is a history, relations between Russians and Ukrainians never really recovered.

What happens next is what matters. If Putin stops there, the Russian- EU relationship can recover, but not go back to what it was with Europe depending on Russian gas, that was always a step too far.

If Putin invades into Ukraine proper, and starts a war there, he will have made a big mistake that will be bad for Russia, for him, and for everyone else. That would be a foolish thing to do, and we see no sign, as yet, of him being a fool.

Hopefully the effect on Rochdale will be minimal.

Excellent post cyfrifia. I commend you on your rationality, intelligence and 'research'. Well done.     

cyfrifia wrote: Hopefully the effect on Rochdale will be minimal. .

With a bit of luck the government will require all those on benefits as 'conscripts' to bolster our 'New Army on the Rhine' to hold back the 'Red Hordes'. Now that really would have a good effect on Rochdale if you ask me. 

Unfortunately the traditional practice of sending huge numbers of people abroad, off to war, is out of date. A more modern replacement method of maintaining a safe, civilised and peaceful environment has yet to be discovered.