If I lived in Crimea, I would have voted to leave the Ukraine and join Russia.

[Democracyinkind]

162. My basic position is that I am in favor of self-determination in almost all cases.

It's just that self-determination is never a clean thing in a geopolitical hot spot.

So far, I have read nothing that would convince me that there wasn't a more or less solid majority of Crimeans in favor of joining the Russian Federation, even if that translates to giving up any right to future autonomy and self-determination.

The legal aspects concerning this are, IMHO, only secondary. We accept such votes when they are in our geopolitical interest, and the Russians do the same. We condemn such votes when they are in conflict with our geopolitical interests, as do the Russians. There was, of course, no legal way in which such a vote would have taken place, as there would never have been a majority in the Ukrainian parliament for it (which would have been needed to make this vote legal under the standards of international law). In that sense, the presence of the Russian troops was a precondition for holding the vote, and in that sense, I have spoken of this affair as being a dilemma for those who want to genuinely be on the side of democratic processes and self-determination.

I agree that this was mainly a PR stunt. My point is that any such election in a geopolitical hot spot is necessarily so. As long as it more or less conforms to the wishes of the true majority, I find it acceptable. Taking a more cynical view that leaves out the wishes and prospects of the local inhabitants, I believe that geo-strategically, Russian control of Crimea is conducive to a stalemate in the Eurasian region, and therefore a hindrance to actual war breaking out. In that limited sense, I find it desirable.

I do not disagree with most points that you are making. But given the location that we are talking about, there is not much hope in expecting ideal procedures, be they pro-Western or pro-Russian.