“Putin’s playing chess; we’re playing marbles.”
With all due respect, Putin is not playing chess. He is playing a role that is somewhere between mafia don, totalitarian dictator, and KGB chief. You can bet good money that this move on the Crimea has been planned for a long time, and the protests and unrest were fueled and manipulated to allow this intervention. Putin is Stalin, or Hitler, with a better press agent.
“this move on the Crimea has been planned for a long time”
Correct.
After the dismemberment of the Soviet Union by Gorbatche in 1991, Russia never accepted the loss of Crimea, which was Russian territory since 1774, and rightly theirs. The fact that the Ukrainian-born Krustchev attached it to Ukraine in 1954 was ignored until 1991, because it was someting formal, on paper only, Russia and Ukraine being both part of the USSR.
Crimean consider themselves Russian at 80% of the population. Since 1992 Russia wants to reintegrate it (very strategic territory with the only Russian ports which don’t freeze in wintertime). Putin couldn’t miss the occasion to do it. The situation in Ukraine opened the way to him.
Putin isn’t a Mafia Don—The Mafia has principles. He’s a lot more like Czar Ivan the Terrible. He’s on a mission from god to unite all the Russian Orthodox people under his two headed eagle. As for outplaying Obama, its not even close. if we tangle with Russia we may end up losing Alaska—as long as Obama is in charge. China is on his side, Geemany needs his gas, England wants his business, and the USA needs him for bases to re-supply Afganistan—and send our guys into space. With reduced military—interal problems—Obamacare.