Of course Ukraine could have avoided what it is going through now. There is always a choice. There was ample time to make a choice during the huffing and and puffing stage.

If we look back to the territories "liberated" by
the Bolsheviks during the October revolution. To the
captive nations occupied by the Red Army during World War II,
and in the lands won by military force or "wars of liberation"
in Asia, Africa, the Far East, and the Caribbean. - what's
happening in Ukraine should be understandable.

The territories "liberated" by the Bolsheviks during the October revolution were different perhaps than the territories "liberated" by
Alexander The Great. In the case of Alexander the Persian's had been testing the defences of Greece and Macedonia for a while- so perhaps they saw their actions as justifiable self defence.

Sadly the gains of Alexander and the Romans were decimated when the Chinese invaded Europe and then the Slavs opportunistically occupied the created vacuum from memory. mhaze please feel free to correct me on this.

http://www.quora.com/How-did-Slavs-manage-to-conquer-the-biggest-part-of-Europe?share=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasion_of_Europe

In the spirit of Aristotle's Politics perhaps liberation by principles is better than liberation by war- but they are both in the game book.

If Putin is being honest then he wanted a buffer between Russia and NATO (but is anybody honest- enlightened self interest seems to apply here- Machiavelli had an opinion on this). This implies that he wouldn't have gone into The Ukraine if NATO hadn't- but possibly this is tied up with the larger battle between China and the West.

Sorry I may have gotten confused with the Plague of Justinian- and the Slavs occupying this vacuum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_migrations_to_the_Balkans

Dear Foxy,

During the Civil War in Russia the alternative to being 'liberated' by the Reds was to be subjected to the Whites. A better alternative as my father was able to find was to remove himself from Russia entirely. He got to Japan where he was just another blue-eyed, red-haired European unlike Russia where he was a Zhid.

During WW2 the choice was between Stalin and Hitler for those who had the opportunity to make a choice. Many were simply eliminated by the Nazis. I worked with a man who was saved by the Russians because his father was anticommunist. When Poland was divided between the Germans and the Russians at the beginning of the war people in the Russian zone were given a choice. Accept Soviet citizenship, and you can stay in your homes. Otherwse you will be deported. Naparstek's father was anticommunist and refused Soviet citizenship. As a result the family was deported to Murmansk where Abe told me he spent a fairly pleasant childhood. Those Jews who accepted Soviet citizenship were eliminated by the Nazis when they moved east.

Foxy,
What’s happening today in the Ukraine is understandable, ]particularly in terms of personal ambition, power and greed.
——
True the war could have been avoided, just as in 1939 Chamberlin could have given in to Hitler or Australia could have given in to the Japanese.
The UN could have ignored the Communist invasion of South Korea and all these would have been history changers and your keyboards would be much larger.