Stephen Cohen 07/12/2016

Nuclear-Tipped Cold War over the Warm Water Paradise of Crimea

Stephen F. Cohen, NYU, Princeton University, EastWestAccord.com.

(Photo: “Livadia Palace (Russian: Ливадийский дворец, Ukrainian: Лівадійський палац) was a summer retreat of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family in Livadiya, Crimea. The Yalta Conference was held there in 1945, when the palace housed the apartments of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and other members of the American delegation. Today the palace houses a museum, but it is sometimes used for international summits.

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Nuclear-Tipped Cold War over the Warm Water Paradise of Crimea. Stephen F. Cohen, NYU, Princeton University, EastWestAccord.com.

“…The new troops are a tangible response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its increasingly provocative exercises and air maneuvers near the Baltic states, which once were part of the Soviet Union. While a battalion wouldn’t stop a Russian invasion, it will provide a tripwire that could deter impulsive and opportunistic adventures by Mr. Putin — as the invasions of Crimea and eastern Ukraine appeared to be.

“Similarly, the commitment to extend NATO’s mission in Afghanistan in 2017 — made possible by Mr. Obama’s decision not to go forward with a drastic drawdown of U.S. troops — was badly needed to sustain the still-fragile Afghan government. The Taliban movement, which had been hoping to wait out a Western withdrawal, may now give greater consideration to peace talks. A deal to provide funding to the Afghan army through 2020 should further bolster and stabilize Kabul….”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/a-ray-of-light-from-nato/2016/07/11/3a7b5626-478f-11e6-90a8-fb84201e0645_story.html

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