The current administration has been proven flaccid by Putin, and it is due to the administrations ignorance and blindness to Russia and the Ukraine. Oh, and Hillary Clinton looked like a fool when she compared Putin to Hitler. No matter how flaccid or potent the administration is, the problem is that the West keeps pushing their agenda (DEMOCRACY) with no care about local issues.
The ignorance is seen in the lack of knowledge in Russian history, especially how the Russian identity comes from the Ukraine. The Russo people started around Kiev when some Vikings came down to trade. Henry Kissinger explained it best in his recent article. The short of it is that the Russia is so tied with Ukraine, because of a common history, that there is no way Russia would allow Ukraine to completely fall into the EU, which is what the EU demanded. By the way, that is really what started this situation.
Another area where they are ignorant is that Crimea was part of Russia well into the foreseeable past. Crimea only became part of the Ukraine when Khrushchev gave Crimea to Ukraine, at no other point in history was Crimea part of Ukraine. So if Russia and Crimea both want them to be part of Russia, I say let them have it.
Now onto blindness. Obama’s administration, along with most politicos, believe that it was wrong for Russia to invade Crimea, and they have been calling for sanctions ever since. Somehow these people have failed to remember that it was Western leaders that provoked, or at least fanned the flames of the strong demonstrations, and even though there was a “peace settlement” the West thinks it was fine for their side to seize the government, which Putin was correct to say, was illegal and unconstitutional. Also, they seem to forget, or just ignore, that the new “government” was attempting to place restrictions on the Russian populace. There was an attempt to revoke Russian as a national language.
The administration was also foolish to think that sanctions could actually work. Apparently, they were unaware that Russia supplies the heating oil for most of Europe, and so Europe will not enact measures that will hurt themselves. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote an article saying that the US should build the Keystone pipeline, which will allow Europe to get oil from other places, besides Russia. While that is a laudable goal, it would take time for it to be built, which would still give Putin time to complete his maneuvers, whatever they may be.
As for Hillary Clinton, she recently committed reductio ad Hilterum, when she said that Putin was acting like Adolf Hitler when he invaded Crimea. Her argument was that he was using the excuse of protecting his fellow Russians. While that part is true, it is stupid to compare the two, because once you bring up Hitler, you are bringing up the Holocaust, and there is no Russian rhetoric that is close to Nazi rhetoric.
In this new post-Cold War/post-911 world, the West needs to change its view of being the best in the world. Just because other places in the world do things differently that does not mean that they are wrong for that society. All these demonstrations that have turned into civil wars recently have not helped anyone in the world. Libya is messed up and getting worse, no one seems to know what to do with Egypt, Syria is even worse than Libya, and the one decent outcome, Tunisia, is not as stable as some hope it was. Why do we think these events are good? All they do is lead to more death. By the way, if it wasn’t for Western support, and our hope for democracy, most of these things wouldn’t have happened.
Welcome to the new Western Imperialism.