NuclearDem
I do hope most of the former Soviet union members will not be eaten up by Russia - or forced to seede territory to Russia as the best way to try to stay alive as independent states - it is a reason most of East-Europe after the cold war, ended up as member of the NATO alliance - and members of EU - as some former soviet republics did when they was able to do so.. And I doubt Russia would try to go head on with NATO, even if they had been spending billions worth of money and many resources on their military - they are still way to weak to attack a NATO member head on... And it is true, that many nations who was deeply connected to USSR, today is scared about how Putin want to play the game - some of the old soviet republics have already been feeling the pinch, as Russia is more or less treating them to accept a foreign policy who would just benefit Russia - not them - and not their trading partners in the West...
The fact is - that many of the former soviet republics are scared - as they do not want to be part of Russia anymore - but they have some large minorities of russians inside their own borders - who they fear - with some justice could be used as a pretext to do a lot of damage - even try to install a more Kremlin friendly governments - specially the Baltic States, who had their own, rather unique experience with Russia, going back to when the baltic states was divided between Russia and Sweden, back in the 16th and 17th century - not to say the inter-war period, who ended rather brutal when Hitler and Stalin, in their Molotov-Ribbentrop tractate divided east and west between them - and the baltic states ended in Stalins hands - and how the Red Army, helped by russian minorities was doing so much damage - both before World War two - and after the war, when for some years nationality's had a war going on with the Red Army - and was brutally stooped in 1950, almost 5 years after the war ended.. And then, for the next 45 years was part of the Soviet Union, and who had a rather painfully divorce in 1991-93 - and they have no interest whats so ever be part of Russia anymore...
Mr Putin is a person who have some idea how he want to be remembered - not to say he want to make sure the world is fearing Russia again, as they did when he was growing up - and had an career in KGB - he want to turn the clock back to a time when Russia was a power to reckon with - and he want to build his own legacy about how Russia will be remembered in the future - not as a joke, a weak nation who could be pushed around as many russians feel they was in the 1990s - but as a powerfully nation, who is not to be pushed around.... And most russians also support the idea of Ukraine being a part of Russia - as at least 50 percent of the russian history - is centered around Ukraine - most of the early history of what become Russia, is from Ukraine - some of its most important kings and queens, the church (who under Putin have had some form of Renaissance as they have been used to propel the idea of Statehood in Russia.. And in most way - the Orthodox church today have the same tacit support from the State, as it had back before the revolution in 1917 - even if not as rich as it was back then....
I do hope mr Putin wil not go to war against the other independed states who once was part of Russia - either from old times - or from the time when they was part of USSR - but I have no clue about how mr Putin is thinking this days - untill Ukraine exploded I was allways beliving him to be a sort of nationalists who just wanted to make sure Russia is rembembed as a nation in Europe - to reqon with - and to respect... And I have allways beliving him to be a rather calculating person - who allways was able to have everything under controll... But in Ukraine - the conquest of the Krimera - and the east-ukraine chrisis - I suspect he miscalculed rather extreme - and now is turned himself into a corner - he can't get out off... And sadly, it is the russian pepole who is paying the price for all this - not to say - the rest of Europe - if this wil erupt into antything worse than it allready is...
Diclotican
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