The bear is backed in a corner

His perpetually constipated expression and a talentless campaign team notwithstanding, Mitt Romney got a few things right. including his prescient declaration of Russia as our “number one geopolitical foe.” Romney was ridiculed for this statement at the time by his opponent, Barack Obama.

Unfortunately, Romney has been proven right; President Obama and the rest of world seriously underestimated the sleeping bear.

Under the perpetual leadership of Vladimir “shirts are for girls” Putin, Russia has become arguably the greatest threat to global peace in the 21st century. After invading a sovereign nation, Russian backed soldiers claimed Crimea as their own and shot down a civilian airliner.

Nearly nine months after the downing of the aircraft, war still rages in Ukraine. Civilians and soldiers alike are being killed by Russian Army soldiers curiously seized by a sudden urge to defect in droves and volunteer to serve under the command of Russian backed rebels.

Disturbing parallels may be drawn between this and a similar violation of sovereignty, the Defensive War of 1939. Germany invaded Poland because, if you believe Hitler, “Germans in Poland are persecuted with bloody terror and driven from their homes.” Putin employed almost the same justification for Russia’s annexation of Crimea, saying that ethnic Russians were being persecuted by the Ukrainian government. The response by the rest of the world powers also mirrors the response of the world in 1939. There has been much hand-wringing and finger-wagging, but no real response of aid to Ukraine. Perhaps NATO and the UN believe as Britain and the U.S. did in 1939, that Putin’s empirical appetites will be sated by Ukraine and he will return to hibernation. But as any zoologist will tell you, once awakened after hibernation, a large animal has an  incredible appetite, they must consume until their depleted reserves are replenished.

Russia today, after losing 6.02 million sq. km, is a mere geographic shadow of the once-mighty USSR. Like the bully humiliated after losing a fight, Russia has come back just as violent, but smarter. By stoking anti-Western paranoia and blaming all economic troubles (rightly so) upon U.S. led sanctions, Putin has utilized the state controlled media to gain the support of the Russian people.

Nationalism is experiencing a resurgence in Russia as citizens feel threatened, ignored, and disrespected by the rest of the world. The Russian military has stepped up aggressive maneuvers towards other countries including 39 aerial and marine incidents in an eight-month span during 2014. Putin’s brazen disregard for the sovereignty of Ukraine, coupled with Russia’s aggressive military posturing, has brought NATO to high alert, as well it should.

Putin obviously feels backed into a corner, and we all know what happens when you corner a bear.