Time for Realism and Common Sense on Ukraine

[magical thyme]

7. it's not surprising, given the circumstances

Russia is far less concerned about its next-door neighbor’s economic relations with the EU...than the further extension of NATO to its borders....This isn’t an irrational fear. Despite promises by George H.W. Bush not to extend the West’s Cold War military alliance after Germany was united, eight former Warsaw Pact nations and three former Soviet republics have been incorporated into NATO, with the United States and NATO even setting up a military outpost in Georgia. And the EU association agreement...in fact had military clauses that called for integrating Ukraine into the EU military structure, including cooperation on “civilian and military crisis management operations” and “relevant exercises” concerning them. No one should be surprised that Putin reacted negatively to such a prospect. It’s difficult to imagine any American administration accepting a decision by Mexico to join a military alliance with Russia.

I seem to remember as a child practicing hiding under our desks during something called the Cuban missile crisis.