Russia's Reputation PreceedsThem

How quickly Putin put behind him the goal of appearing to be a progressive nation worthy of praise and respect.  The flame had barely gone out in Sochi when Russian troops marched into Crimea.  The impetus for the unrest was a resistance on Russia's part to a trade agreement with the European Union.  There is not much tolerance for contact with the west, it turns out.

It is true that Crimea is a complicated situation, but a good part of that complication was Russian made.  When Stalin deported all Crimean Tartars to Central Asia (and certain death for many of them) and repopulated the popular peninsula with Russians.  So the >50% Russian population that exists there today is flasely created.  Then again, Ukranians are not the traditional inhabitants either, and they have never made up more than 25% of of the population.  Add to that the relative independence that Crimea has enjoyed since the early 1990's, and it is hard to see this as anything but a Soviet style invasion.  Join us, or we will smash you to bits. The thugs are back in town.  How will the west respond?