Do you believe that Russia is trying to provoke WW3?

No, they said that when they invaded Afghanistan & the world was a far more volatile place back then.

No. I think they are just interested in reclaiming old Soviet territory, and they are testing the waters to see how far they can go.

That being said, I do thinkt that Putin is planning to annex the entirety of the Ukraine next.
One does not station 40 thousand troops at the Ukrainian border for nothing.
I also think that the “russian separatists” in the Ukraine are under direct command of Russia, their objective being to provoke the Ukraine into direct actian against them, giving Russia an excuse to invade to “protect the russian minority”.

No, I don’t believe WW3 is in their better interests so no, they aren’t trying to provoke it now. I think they would like to reclaim old Soviet territory and that’s what’s going on. They just want that land.

Aren’t we up to WWIV or WWV by now?

^^ Not gonna happen, always stick with a trilogy.

What on earth would they have to gain by going to war with the US? Can Americans just get over themselves already? Not everything is about you.

@dappled_leaves

Agreed. I have friends who are always saying “Oh yeah we can’t cross Russia, they’ll blow us up! They’ll blow everyone up!”

Uhm, no, it’s called mutually assured destruction. And it doesn’t help Russia at all if they blow everyone up so that half of the world is dead and the other half hates their guts. Sheesh. Putin may be a crazy mofo but he’s not stupid.

@dappled_leaves I don’t see the logic in how I’m making this about me or America? If you’ve studied basic college history you can see that before every war there’s always the little things that build up. The rise of Nazi Germany being a prime example. I’m merely speaking in the tone that there seems to be some sort of consistent aggravation between the U.S. and Russia recently, am I narcissistic because of this? Also don’t be so naive to defend big brother Russia, they still run a tight fascist style of government and society in which if you haven’t noticed the LGBT community is taking the brunt of that force. It’s not about me, it’s about the injustices I see going on in the Ukraine as well as in Russia itself that lead me to believe things are definitely changing around those parts of the world. It’s not everyday you see another country bolster another nation by arming it with tons military force. Or maybe I’m just so used to the U.S. being on that end of the spectrum that it’s strange for Russia to do it on a large scale and in the public eye? I think one thing we can all agree on is there is a lot of activity going on between the two nations. On the scale of the Cold War? probably not… a babyone if you will. But please don’t think nothing is going on, because there definitely is some sort of tension. That’s how Hitler came to power. I strongly suggest you grow to become healthily skeptical of the way world politics works.

No. I think Americans are fed a lot of lies and propaganda and watch way too much TV.

No.

How many countries are the US bombing? How many are Russia?
I think Americans need to start looking in the mirror.

^ The US is the leader of the Free World, when you have all the best guns, all the best jets, all the best ships, all the best weapons, and more thermonuclear weapons than Bubba Gump Shrimp as dollars, you get to make the rules because no one can beat you. ~~~ Might makes right, the more might you have, the more right you are.

No.

Russia is still crippled financially has very little to fall back on other than their gas and oil resources and now that many other countries can deliver what Russia has to offer, their power play is more nostalgic, symbolic and wishful thinking to regain the power and command they once had since they lost it all years back. Ultimately sanctions will once again quickly bleed them dry.

The U.S.A yes. Russia, not so much.

@Hypocrisy_Central “The US is the leader of the Free World…”

I understand what you’re trying to say, but the qualities listed are not what I consider makes a good leader. I don’t see any of those things on Forbes list of what makes a great leader… And I don’t see the U.S. abiding by anything on Forbes list either. Not CNN’s list of great leadership either.

Funny how both begin with “Honesty”. Not something I associate with the U.S. Gov.

My thoughts are that Putin is forecasting the social and economic trends for his country and taking steps to change those trends. A burst of military build up that gains territory goes a long way to stimulating an economy. How the rest of the world reacts will create the war. He’s confident that the US will do very little because that’s what’s been happening for decades in our government and in our citizenry.

@DaphneT I don’t see how taking a step backward could boost their economy? (Referring to your first sentence in regards to Putin)

@dappled_leaves

Say, where have I read about this one before Holocaust intro much?

Maybe they are not actively provoking it, but you can’t deny these sort of similar events were displayed before. Again basic world history.

@pleiades I think you (and many others) are missing the point of that story. Putin has been telling his own people that the current government in Ukraine is a bunch of Nazis (seriously, he is calling them Nazis). What he hopes to gain by this is that it will justify any violent actions done by Russians in Ukraine. So, for pro-Russia groups to distribute flyers that look like they were made by the Ukrainian government saying that Jews should be registered – that promotes Putin’s contention that the Ukrainian leadership is evil and should be removed. The point being: the Russians think that Nazis are bad, not good.

This is not about a new Holocaust. This is a propaganda campaign.