... the red line wasn’t a Trump soundbite.

A much-deserved break.

Exactly! Russia would be king maker.
And who would they crown?

Blockade the Malacca Strait — starve China of incoming petrol.
They’d fold soon enough.
I’m not saying this WOULDN’T be a world-wide depression, it would be that, but this possibility is great reason not to be unduly concerned in the near future.

This is a rapidly-changing future. China has an enormous port they…

Hot Take: what cost, red lines, friend? ;)

Is it a direct challenge though? Does Crimea & the Eastern border fighting resemble the beginning of an inexorable push to restore all Soviet borders or is it largely oriented towards domestic political concerns? Propping up Putin’s popularity.

Ukraine was not part of NATO — it is not a black and white challenge…

Details matter.

Mexico borders America. Her drug, gang, security, & demographic problems become ours. Russia borders Ukraine — no matter they’re always going to be more invested in that outcome than we are.

China is a direct, growing challenger to America’s hegemonic position and this growth has been described with…

The article provided those opposed to your viewpoint with the only fodder we need: Ukraine matters FAR more to Russia than the West. Ukraine is a bridge too far.

When I challenged other people in another thread, it became very much clear: the belief that Russia is a podunk, 2-bit has been that needs to be put in it’s place.

How bellicose even liberal democrats (typical of the leanings here) are towards those that interfere with The Anointed One’s coronation to POTUS. ;)

But…

Counter argument:

The rest of the world doesn’t roll out a red carpet for immigrants like the Western world. And those nukes will never be used.

That determination is up to his superiors, not the public.

Our guidelines do spell out the black and white areas.

What these Seals did was inappropriate but hilarious.

Brazil besides not having a nuclear deterrent, neither is in any position to politically effect the West. That nuclear arsenal has also been upgraded substantially, though far from completely. I have reservations about some of it, but a significant-enough fraction of it has been modernized and is completely relevant.

I…

Talk is cheap, but with both Bush and Obama there were veritable handfuls of people who refused deployment orders. It ended poorly for them, invariably.

At least that made the news. To be clear: less than 10 that I can recall in Army Times / Military Times. (which is the type of paper which SEEKS those stories)

Permanent sanctions will lead to permanent hacking and political unrest stirred by the Kremlin, along her periphery, or, perhaps the collapse of Putin’s Russia, which is many things if not unpredictable.

But I can guarantee you this: a new Russian leader will still lead a country where the ports freeze in Winter, the…

I wish him the best because if he doesn’t succeed we will all pay the price.

An unstable ally is one which isn’t cleanly allied with the Kremlin or the West. From the Russian point of view, this is quite often a net positive, though not always.

It’s not then logical to insist on all of Ukraine falling. Russia doesn’t need that to have her security enhanced. In fact, aggressively and openly…

I had a great thought: in the same vein as this picture (which is great) I wonder if someone could exercise sufficient Google-Fu & No-Lifing and come up with a similar chart using circles, and add off-colored rings to other countries NOT the USA, to represent the proportional amount of American military investment,…