What can stop Russian tanks rolling into Ukraine? | 158 comments (158 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

What concerns me is that we don't understand Putin.

Oh, I think we do. He's a former KGB colonel and a hard-nosed politician. He's the only one who appears to be acting rationally in the sense of "realist" geopolitics. While his tactics may be unpredictable, that's part of a "rational" approach to conflict, attempting to exploit surprise to his advantage.

Living in postmodern democracies we're not used to this kind of old-fashioned statecraft, but we cannot say we can't understand him.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Apr 3rd, 2014 at 05:28:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What can stop (none / 1)

I'm pretty sure he's making it up as he goes along. I think he was probably as surprised as anyone that Crimea ended up annexed to Russia.

I'm imagining him going to bed every night, looking in the mirror and thinking "I can't believe you got away with that, you wily Russian bear you".

And that's me put off lunch.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu Apr 3rd, 2014 at 05:36:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What can stop (4.00 / 6)

He can only get away with things because the West is not acting rationally. And they can't, because they don't have clear goals.

Taking control of Crimea with unidentified troops was a stroke of brilliance. Puting is crazy, but he's not a madman. Whether or not he got to keep it after that depended on what the other side did.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Apr 3rd, 2014 at 05:43:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What can stop (none / 1)

Why is he crazy? Looks to me like he's rationally pursuing his interests.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu Apr 3rd, 2014 at 05:49:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What can stop (4.00 / 3)

He does crazy - i.e. unexpected, rule-breaking - things. But I said he's not a madman. He's not insane, just not playing by the West's rules when it doesn't suit him.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Apr 3rd, 2014 at 05:51:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What can stop (none / 0)

Wikipedia is not helpful at demarcating the differences between 'mad', 'crazy' and 'insane'.

Maybe it needs further editing. ;)

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Thu Apr 3rd, 2014 at 06:02:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What can stop (4.00 / 4)

Imagine you're playing a table-top wargame and your opponent does something out of left field and scores a tactical win.

You'd exclaim "that's crazy!", half amused and annoyed.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Apr 3rd, 2014 at 06:06:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What can stop (none / 1)

Colman:

I'm imagining him going to bed every night, looking in the mirror and thinking "I can't believe you got away with that, you wily Russian bear you".

Funny, the first time I read that I thought you were talking about Obama... you know the guy who turned interdimensional chess up to 11?

Now Putin just showed him it actually goes to 12.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Thu Apr 3rd, 2014 at 05:59:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What can stop (4.00 / 4)

I think Putin may be the only one who knows it doesn't actually go up to 11, it's just labelled that way.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Apr 3rd, 2014 at 06:00:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What can stop (none / 0)

Touche!

The only one who didn't drink the party punch spiked with brown acid and Kool-Aide.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Thu Apr 3rd, 2014 at 06:05:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]

What can stop Russian tanks rolling into Ukraine? | 158 comments (158 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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