So how is all this going to end? Well to find the answer to that question, instead of listening to the mindless blather emanating from the corporate-controlled American media, let's hear what a couple of real experts on military affairs and geopolitical issues have to say about what's really going on here.
Here's an article by Professor Michael Choosudovsky in which he gives an excellent, very insightful analysis of this increasingly dangerous situation. He makes it very clear that Mr. Putin's strategy in this region is to make certain that Russia retains control of their naval base at Sevastopol as well as the Black Sea, and provides the Russian navy with entry into the Mediterranean Sea, through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic Ocean. The value of this strategic position is immeasurable.
Does anyone really believe that these sanctions instituted by Mr. Obama and his NATO partner nations will have any great effect on this situation? This president should have been warned that the issuing of sanctions can easily backfire if Russia returns the favor and issues its own sanctions. Doesn't he realize that Russia can, at any time, significantly reduce the flow of oil and natural gas to many European nations? That if these nations begin to experience cutbacks in their imports of oil and gas, that are so critical to their economies, it won't take long for them to beg Russia to turn the spigots back on.
Not only that, but Russia has yet another strategic weapon at its disposal. As this article from Asian Times Online points out, "Moscow - the number one oil and gas exporter on the planet - can also play further hardball with Europe's dependency on Gazprom; clinically target US companies working in Russia; speed up the BRICS-coordinated escape from the US dollar, as in a new international payment system in a basket of currencies for the BRICS as well as other emerging markets; and even activate the ultimate economic nuclear bomb - which is to accept payment for Russian oil and gas in the Ruble, Yuan, Euros or gold, thus delivering a terminal blow to the petrodollar."
And there is one more form of retaliation that Russia possesses and can use against the U.S. if it sees fit. Russia can close down its National Distribution Network highway system, which they have allowed the U.S. to use for years to supply its military in Afghanistan. If Russia closes it down, the U.S. government will be up the creek when it cannot use this system as it pulls massive amounts of military equipment out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
What needs to be done is to stop the threats going back and forth between the various nations involved. They need to put aside these ridiculous sanctions and other useless moves and sit down and begin very serious, in-depth discussions on how to alleviate this burgeoning crisis that could, if not rectified, lead to a very dangerous regional military confrontation. Without a doubt the first demand from Russia in such negotiations would likely be for NATO to completely dismantle the missile systems that it has set up in countries that border Russia.
There is no use for the West to demand that Russia pull out of Crimea because there is no way that it will even consider it. But Putin may be open to making an agreement by which Russia will stay out of the internal affairs of Ukraine; that is, if the U.S. and Western nations agree to do the same. Russia will also demand that the West pledge that it will no longer try to incorporate Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. Again, Russia will not back off this demand.
If one carefully observes the changes that are taking place in this world, it becomes more and more evident that the power and influence of the U.S. and its Western allies is waning and that of the combination of Russia and China and the increasing number of nations supporting them is on the increase. Some may see this as the outset of a new Cold War but others see it as an entrance to an era of détente.
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