One thing that I would like everyone to consider is how the rest of the world will react. By this I mean, will other countries see the newly formed Russian-Chinese axis as predominant? Will they view the Western, NATO-aligned countries as weak? If that happens, what does this mean for the world? Will other countries align with Russia and China, resulting in a shrinkage of free societies? We have already seen how China's economic might has been used to squelch free speech even in the USA (think LeBron James and the NBA). We saw a steady growth of democracies following WWII. I now fear a steady decline.
Putin's actions bring to mind the 2012 presidential debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Romney called Russia our greatest geopolitical threat. Obama mocked him with this line: "...the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because, you know, the Cold War's been over for 20 years." Not surprisingly, the MSM dutifully fell in line and also mocked Romney. As did so many on the left.
Putin has had the world on edge, waiting to see what Russia would do. I don't get it. Russia has 144 million people. But Western Europe has 197 million people. And all of NATO has over 944 million people. Economic strength? The GDP of the US is over $21 trillion. But even Germany, the UK, France and Italy each have a larger GDP than does Russia. While Russia may not be a wealthy country, it has been spending its money on building up its military. Meanwhile, the West has been complacent. And our military under Biden is more concerned with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. That ought to show Putin a thing or two.
Part of the problem is that Russia is the third largest producer of oil in the world, and is the main supplier of natural gas to...yep, Europe. So, Germany, has now decided to not accept gas from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. So what? That is not the only pipeline from Russia into Europe. And Italy's Prime Minister has stated that he does not want sanctions on Russia touching the Russian energy industry. At a NATO summit in 2018, Trump complained about Germany (although they're not alone) sending billions of dollars to Russia for their oil and gas.
But what has Biden done? Taken us from an energy independent country to a country that gets 3% of our oil from Russia. A mere days into his term, Biden signed executive orders halting new oil and gas leases, and requiring a review of existing leases. And, of course, Biden put a stop to the Keystone XL pipeline. Had he not taken these measures, the US could be supplying energy to Europe. That would hit Putin where it hurts, costing him billions of dollars.
So what about sanctions? They never work. Besides, now that Putin and Xi seem to have a cozy relationship, China (with the second biggest GDP after the US) can easily make up whatever Russia loses from Western sanctions.
Another thing to consider. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, all former Soviet Republics, agreed to give up their nuclear weapons. With the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, those countries were given security assurances for their territorial integrity - in exchange for relinquishing their nukes. Those assurances were given by Russia, the UK and the USA. So much for the US standing by our commitments. In the event that our retreat from Afghanistan did not signal the countries of the world just how unreliable the US could be, we now have the US disregarding our commitment in Europe.
So what would I do? What I would have done is insisted on NATO sending troops into Ukraine, and definitely enough to protect Kyiv. I know, Ukraine is not a member of NATO, and therefore we have no treaty obligation to defend them. And I know that Ukraine is not a "perfect" democracy. But I agree with President Kennedy regarding the inherent obligation to "assure the survival and the success of liberty."
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