Re: NatGeoTV-Russia and the West: Putin Takes Control
It's very enlightening to see and hear the key players themselves summarizing events and actions that I have trouble recalling even the most rudimentary knowledge about.
Stuff has been going on beneath the radar for decades, and it's very telling about the personalities and driving forces involved.
I learned a lot from this program, and have revised a number of viewpoints where my knowledge has turned out to be far less complete. It prompts me to caution where I once believed I had a basis for being more outspoken. Things are nowhere as clear as I had once believed. Serious opportunities have been missed on both sides. Individuals in whom I had much faith throughout don't look so solid after this.
The potential exists for things to get pretty ugly, starting with Russia after Mar 4.
We may be accustomed to turmoil there, and other-than-benign regime change; but events support a new outlook, where regional conflicts and economic stress have become far more widespread.
What's happening in the Mid-East and perhaps the Russias can probably be no longer ruled out anywhere.
What many of us have lauded in the Middle East does not look as rosy to me as some here once predicted. I suspect a good bit of it will rise up to bite us in the nethers. Russia has its own problems from similar sources. Nobody's going to get out of the next decade without a few new scars.
I, for one, pay heed when Putin looks at the succession of new Western leaders coming to court, and says he's already seen the movie several times and it doesn't end well.
He's the only one in the room with a real track record. We may not like where he's been and where he's wanting to go; but when it comes down to looking out for one's own national values, I think he's the only one in the current game who has a clear commitment and an actual grasp on the way it's done.
Iran is nobody's friend, and the Russians understand they are threatened right along with us. The French and the Germans have already shown we cannot count on them when things get interesting. The Brits are better allies, but beyond moral support, I don't see much help from that quarter. The UN is drooling with glee; already gloating in advance of the upcoming festivities.
...And somebody, please keep an eye on that Hillary critter; if anyone has both the position and the inclination to sell us all out...
Hang on boys and girls, I do believe we're in for a bumpy night...
Greg