Fear Of Vladimir Putin Grows In EU Capitals Amid Spectre Of ‘Total War’

[Purveyor]

In Brussels and other European capitals, the fear of Vladimir Putin is becoming palpable. The mood has changed in a matter of weeks from one of handwringing impotence over Ukraine to one of foreboding.

The anxiety is encapsulated in the sudden rush to Moscow by Angela Merkel and François Hollande. To senior figures closely involved in the diplomacy and policymaking over Ukraine, the Franco-German peace bid is less a hopeful sign of a breakthrough than an act of despair.

“There’s nothing new in their plan, just an attempt to stop a massacre,” said one senior official.

Carl Bildt, the former Swedish foreign minister, said a war between Russia and the west was now quite conceivable. A senior diplomat in Brussels, echoing the broad EU view, said arming the Ukrainians would mean war with Russia, a war that Putin would win.

Announcing the surprise mission to Kiev and Moscow, Hollande sounded grave and solemn. The Ukraine crisis, he said, started with differences, which became a conflict, which became a war, and which now risked becoming “total war”.

more...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/06/vladimir-putin-west-divisions-war-ukraine

[Vic Tree]

1. It's the 80s all over again

And I feel fine!

[Purveyor]

3. These are indeed historic times in the making. Quite interesting to watch but sadly, it is becoming

more and more difficult to present all sides of the situation on this forum.

Thankfully this isn't the only game in town.

[Igel]

4. Keeping the dream alive.

It increases Russia's prestige--meaning not "admiration" but importance, power, pull--in Europe and abroad. Which was the goal.

Weakening others is a corollary: In a zero sum game, getting power means others have to lose it. (Better to make your neighbor lose his cow than to get one of your own. Even better? Get the neighbor's cow, as long as you're not caught: If you're not caught, you're not a thief. 'Ne poiman, ne vor.' Nice Russian proverb that encapsulates much 'folk wisdom.')

Of course, this is why Europe steadfastly insists there can be no military solution. And why Russia knows the truth: There is a military solution, but only one side has the backbone to handle it. (I leave the Ukrainians out; many of them do have the backbone--it's an open question whether Poroshenko has a backbone--but Ukraine lacks the armaments. It's the price you pay for being a protectorate that services what amounts to a neo-mercantilist hegemon: A backwards economy and no military to speak of.)