The pregnant question is: “What do we do right now?” Right now the ball is in Putin’s court. What he “reasonably” wants is to keep his naval bases in Crimea. Those bases are Russia’s only warm water ports and thus their only access to the seas in the winter and much of the summer. Russia has wanted those bases since the reign of Peter The Great when he sought entry into the European community of nations, and you can be sure Putin will do whatever he must to keep them.  Those navy bases are perhaps the most critical component of Russian security. Beyond that, the Ukraine has been called Russia’s breadbasket for good reason; its agricultural and other resources are vital to Russian economy. For all of these reasons, Ukraine is very important to Russia. The question is how Russian interests can be satisfied by an independent, Western-leaning Ukraine. If Russian interests are denied by the Euro-leaning Ukrainian government,...(Read Full Post)