Plagued by internal strife and self-inflicted economic hardships, Russia has traditionally blamed external forces for her problems, and used expansionist policies to divert attention from her domestic failures.  Ukraine is the latest installment in this serial.  With a large ethnic Russian population (17% average, but higher in the eastern provinces), the country is an easy target for Kremlin nationalistic rhetoric and aggression, the annexation of Crimea being the latest but probably not the last concrete manifestation. However, Ukraine shares the blame for Russia’s aggression.  After her independence in 1991, the country had a choice: look west and embark on a course of more political and economic freedom, or remain entrenched in the Soviet-era mindset of political and economic corruption, cronyism, and favoritism.  Former Soviet republics such as Estonia, Lithuania, Georgia, and Latvia looked west, resulting in a rocky but steady increase in...(Read Full Article)