Russia's Manifest Destiny

Russia says it needs the ports of Crimea in order to function properly because they are the only warm water ports they have now outside of the one in Syria. In fact, one of the reasons Putin gives for supporting Assad is that he needs this port and supporting Assad is a way to keep this port. One of the other reasons is the 50,000 or more Russians who live in Syria and many have intermarried with Syrians. So, his reasoning is Russians and the Warm Water port in Syria needs to be protected.

The Russian point of view down through the centuries right up until around 1990 has always been, "Might makes Right" or Russian Manifest Destiny. But, in the western World we might think differently in that "Unless the people of a place agree with you you can't take them over (at least not permanently). So, we have places like Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq and now Afghanistan where we were fighting for principles rather than to permanently control those places. However, when Russia goes in rights go away for the people there permanently or until those places get free of Russia(generally speaking down through the centuries).

Putin's point of view is the way the Soviet Union Worked is the best. But the Soviet Union is gone and I don't think he can bring that back into this world. So, he must be a very disappointed man not to be able to bring the Soviet Union Back.

But, I think more thought by the western powers needs to be given to his point of view which is: "the Warm Water Ports of Crimea Russia needs in order to have a chance to prosper."

So, from this point of view Russia sees the west as meddling in it's affairs and interfering with the very survival and existence of Russia itself both now and in the future.

Once again we have a conflict of ideas. And in the western viewpoint Putin doesn't see Russia being able to survive.

So, by kicking him out of the G-8 all we may have done is to make him feel more threatened in a way that isn't useful to him or to us.

Because a wounded tiger is the most dangerous one of all.

And I think describing Putin as anything else right now might not be useful.

Obama says Putin took Crimea out of Weakness. The same could be said of Hitler when he took all of Europe but Great Britain and Switzerland. However, this is now and that was then.

How will all this get resolved? I'm trying to help resolve it by understanding what is really happening here beyond all the politics of both sides.

What do you think about all this? And what is your solution to these problems?

Without answers we may find ourselves in another war similar to World War II once again that includes Russia, Europe, the middle East and beyond this time.

And that doesn't even begin to consider the problem of nuclear weapons worldwide.