Almost the same thing could have been said of Mr Hitler, another well known, power hungry megalomaniac? The breathtaking speed with which he conquered much of Europe, is legendary; as is the love he engendered in the hearts of seriously misled Germans!
Ditto Colonel Putin and too many clearly deceived or serially misguided Russians!?
The real danger here is a nuclear armed Ukraine, with its own share of sabre rattling nationalists and virtually nothing left to lose, using its final, use it or lose it, option?
Rhrosty.

It may be a case of the law of unintended consequences, but all posters should keep strictly in mind the sequence of events- it was not Putin who initiated the crisis, he has been reacting to perceived threats to national security ( NATO encirclement and, immediately, the Black Sea Fleet).

Well said Halduell and Leslie. It is alarming how much misinformation has infiltrated the Australian media and being faithfully parroted by many commenters on OLO and other websites. Some basic facts:

1. Putin did not "invade" Crimea. Russia was entitled to maintain 25,000 troops there under a 1993 agreement with the Ukraine.

2. Crimea has no historical links to the Ukraine. It only became part of Ukraine in 1953 when Khrushchev gifted it to them, in a very different geo-political environment to today.

3. Ukraine had a democratically elected government that was overthrown in a coup d'etat orchestrated by the Americans, as Nuland's infamous taped conversation makes very clear.

4. The real objective of the coup was to eventually force the Russians to give up their Sevastopol naval base.

5. Ukraine has no nuclear weapons. They were given up in 1993.

6. A deal was made between the then USSR and the USA that the Americans would not use the collapse of the Soviet Union to advance NATO into the former parts of the western USSR. The Americans broke that agreement.

I might add that Kerry's recent statement that countries don't invade others of a false pretext in the 21st century must rank as the most hypocritical statement of 2014 to date. Recall Iraq's weapons of mass destruction anyone?

I am afraid that this latest effort by OLO on the Ukraine does not add to our knowledge. One would be better served by reading Paul Craig Roberts' website for a frank evaluation of what is going on.

This is not to be taken as praise for Putin or anyone else. I am however, heartily sick of the BS that passes for "analysis" in the Oz media.

you blokes need to read more widely.

There is another much more important factor here. Russian Gas. All you lefties who carry on about the US oil interests seem to have overlooked the Russian gas interests in this so called crisis.
There is an excellent article in Forbes that makes an accurate assessment and concludes Putin is so restricted and likely to lose any military conflict and is now likely to lose big time in the gas stakes.
Putin is terribly exposed and so is the Russian economy.

Pat wrote " that makes Russia even more difficult to handle for the West is that most of the world agrees with Putin's respect for traditional family values"...
suseonline wrote"What are you on about Progressive Pat?
Putin and 'family values'?
You must be joking?"
Think Pat cottoned onto western europes expected approach here from what I hear in private discussions...feminize Russia and control then monitor from birth to death...policy like we have here...very appealing to all women Ive noticed worldwide...and once gripped difficult to extract oneself out...eh? if dont understand, Ill try to get some videos from different countries of women interacting with men and children...if you like...
sam

Putin has a long history of bullying Federation members into energy based politics. The Ukraine in particular being at the receiving end on many occasions since 2008.

This trend indicates a primary strategy based on energy rather than being military or territorial. Joint exploration discussions with Israel and Turkey would seem to endorse this perspective.

If true, Putin will do whatever he can militarily to prevent dissident states aligning themselves with the EU, one of Gasprom’s biggest customers, whilst ever there is a risk of federation states engaging in price discounting and increased supply to the EU.

Putin has worked hard to put the EU out of the “energy security” business and has them over a barrel. It looks like he is prepared to keep things that way.

Added to this he now has the USA offering discounted surplus hydrocarbon fuels to Europe, even more reason to keep his federation allies very close.

http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/4150

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2009/05/13/us-russia-kremlin-idUKTRE54C4BY20090513