http://ericmargolis.com/2014/08/what-if-theres-a-real-war-in-ukraine/
As usual, Margolis exhibits a great deal of wisdom and understanding in his analysis of the Ukraine situation. There are some real threats but not in accordance with the information being propagated by both Western news media and American hawks.
The one thing I think he neglected to mention is that if this situation escalates it could lead to fissures within NATO itself. NATO continues to struggle in finding its reason for existence.
On the one hand the Putin's refusal to back down in the face of Western Expansionism has given NATO a perceived threat and the much needed raison d'etre. However, the world has grown more complicated since 1989 and some countries have to consider if being part of NATO is worth their own economic hardship and the consequent generation of domestic strife and threat of catastrophe.
America's unipolar economic dominance waned in the 1970's as the world economy changed. The renewed unipolar military and economic dominance of the 1990's has been downgraded by globalization and America's own flawed economic system.
The Bush Wars and policies which Obama has largely perpetuated have left the American Empire weaker and unable to project the kind of power it desperately desires and needs in order to continue in its project of unipolar dominance.
One is reminded of Justinian's Gothic Wars that sought to recapture the Old Empire. They were temporarily successful and Justinian had his moment in the sun, but in the end the broken Byzantine bank and costly responsibilities left the empire weak and incapable of dealing with the Arab-Muslim threat that arose in the following century. The 'hero' had actually weakened the empire he sought to strengthen.
The US must either start backing down on the various geopolitical fault lines or push itself to the point of breaking and the unleashing of civil unrest resulting from the economic costs and consequences.
Most likely we will see both. But first let's hope cooler and wiser heads prevail when it comes to the manufactured Ukraine crisis.
