…The trouble with Washington’s Ukraine policy, is that it leaves Putin with few options. If he deploys troops to defend ethnic Russian’s in the East, then Obama will demand additional economic sanctions, a “no fly” zone, NATO deployment, and the cutting off of natural gas and oil supplies to Europe.
On the other hand, if Putin does nothing, then the attacks against Russian-speaking people in Ukraine (like Sunday’s shootout at an Eastern checkpoint that left three people dead.) will intensify and the US will provide covert military and logistical support to neo-Nazi extremists in the Interior Ministry, just as they have with jihadi terrorists in Syria and Libya. That will hurtle Ukraine into a devastating civil war that will damage Russia’s economy and undermine its national security. Anyway you look at it, Russia loses…
Comment: Mike Whitney forgot that Putin has more options than this article indicates. All he has to do is add China to the equation and the balance of power on Brzezinski’s chessboard changes, both militarily and economically. If Americans force Europe to stop importing Russia’s energy resources and if Europe cooperates (which is quite unlikely), then Russia will turn its pipelines East, towards China. The main question is: will China cooperate with Russia and risk losing American markets? It well may, considering the state of collapsing US economy and the emergence of new powerhouses in Asia and South America.
The Notebook 