How far the suggestion of unpleasant activities can carry someone (or a Nation), especially when everyone involved knows exactly what’s being implied and when there’s no effective counterweight around.

I think Russia is in a hurry precisely because:

1. they can make rapid gains without actual force
2. Its a lot harder to move someone out than to stop them from coming in
3. It’s going to take a while (4 -8 years) for the Obama administration to figure out what Russia (and others apparently) already know about the muscle behind our new foreign policy.

They’re gonna get while the gettin’s good.

The short take on Russian haste is that Putin and co. (IMHO) are reprising Peter-the-Great thinking. Russia has been weak, and BECAUSE OF THAT has a crumbling society – and thus if Russia can be restored to its deserved position of importance in the world, its society will heal and all its social problems will go away.

They’re in a hurry because this is a race-condition between societal collapse and the saving re-aggrandizement.

The invertebrate Obama cohort is so obviously weak that it’s a perfect encouragement for this project.

So, Russia will continue to push everywhere in its perceived “sphere of influence” and will push harder wherever weakness is encountered.

they certainly agreed, or else!! As evidenced by the Zero’s weak non-response and then his copy of McCain’s response to the Geogia invasion, they smell blood in the water. And I doubt they hold the new SOS in awe, either.

Also missing are Georgia (or course), Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan.

The other six in this thing are places that have not broken as free of Russia as the others; the Baltic countries were never even part of the post-Soviet “CIS” group of 12.

But this is clearly a big step forward for re-assembling the old Russian Empire (even Lenin had to do that after the Russian Civil War)….

They’re probably shooting for the old Russian Empire since it actually did better.

After winning the Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks set out to reconquer the parts of the Russian Empire that had broken away. It actually worked pretty well, such as in (!!) Central Asia. It failed badly in eastern Europe (the Red Army was notably beaten in both Poland and in Estonia) – so “Russia” never got back to the extent in Europe that it had been before 1914; after 1945, they technically got further, but those were also technically satellites not parts of “Russia”….

Think Peter the Great, not Stalin….

have been floating around for some time. On the plus side, these nations have rich natural resources, a large potential workforce, a relatively mild climate, and a desire to be taken seriously by the rest of the world. On the minus side, they lack technical know-how, they are geographically isolated, and they have a huge inferiority complex.

In practical terms, the Russians could give them access to technology and money, while providing them with ports and other transportation for goods. The Russians, meanwhile, have to worry about the large Islamic horde at their Southern door, and making those people dependent on them for defense and capital makes political sense, unless they want mullahs in Red Square (I’m guessing they don’t).

This is overly simplistic, but I contribute it to the Black Helo theory

They are in the same trouble financialy as we claim to be,
and would have to get the money from somewhere.
I wonder if the Ukrain gas cut-off was a part of this?

In for a penny, in for a pound.