Who is the bully

A little while ago in one of my blogs I mentioned my fear of the Russian tanks starting up their engines and moving into the Ukraine. The Russian segment of the population in Crimea wanted reunification with Russia and the segment was in the majority. Now we have other segments of Russian speaking Ukrainians also calling for reunification and they are ably abetted by those well armed and disciplined bands of armed men who, in the Crimea,  were recognisable detachments of the Russian Army and are generally accepted as the same.
Provocation is as old as mankind. Its seen in the school playground first as a verbal insult, then a push, leading to a fight. Often the participants had no pre- determined aim to fight but were led by each subsequent event into a full blown conflict. Only the school bully sets out to convert his strength into a fight believing the inevitability of the outcome, he thinks he has nothing to loose. Every so often, Smith of the lower 5th stands up and is prepared to fight back and equally often the bully who has started to believe his hyperbole is forced to reconsider.
I believe that America become just such a bully and since the end of the Cold War has rubbed the Russian nose in the economic defeat that culminated with the Regan years of the nuclear arms race. What ever you think of the Russian they have a history of unfathomable tenacity, for subjecting themselves to incredible hardship and a belief in their historical importance. After a succession of leaders through whom the country tried to westernise its self by bringing its own brand of market led capitalism which turned into oligarch fiefdoms, run like mini old style collectives, without much of the trickle down effect filtering to the population as a whole. The lifestyle and the opportunity for middle class enhancement has been minimal, it is this huge under-valued mass of people who 'long' for strong leadership,(echo's of Stalin) the sort of leadership that President Putin brings to the table.
The Americans (CIA) pushed by assisting in the  ousting of the Ukraine President Viktor Yanucovych. The Russians pushed back by annexing the Crimea and are now stirring trouble in Eastern Ukraine. When will real fighting break out or has the bully learnt a lesson ?        

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