Monday, March 3, 2014

How To Annex Another Nation's Territory



How To Annex Another Nation's Territory: The Crimean Invasion In 6 Steps -- Popular Mechanics

No matter what you feel about Russia's intervention in the Ukraine, this was clearly a well-run operation.

nvasions are tricky things. It's not always shock and awe—waves of precision bombs pounding targets or foreign troops flooding into cities. Russia's intervention—no matter what blatant violation of sovereignty it might represent, has so far been well-run and strategically intelligent.

Think about it: On Thursday, the Ukrainian Parliament formed a government. By the end of the next day, they had lost control over a vital 10,000-square mile-province with nearly 2 million people in it.

Things could go badly for Russia in the long term. But in the short term, the operation seems to be the kind of success that geopolitical types will pore over for years. So how did Vladimir Putin do it.

Read more ....

My Comment:
Invading and annexing territory is easy .... the hard part is keeping it.

1 comment:

Nicholas Darkwater said...

In one day the Ukrainian parliament lost control of the Crimea? The Ukrainians have never really had control there. Khrushchev granted them control just on paper. Russia conquered the Crimea from the Khanate that was allied to the Ottoman empire; Ukraine didn't exist as an independent country at the time and had nothing to do with the Crimea. It has been predominantly Russian ever since, existing as an autonomous republic either under the Soviet Union, Russia, or Ukraine.

Don't get me wrong - I favor the Ukrainians, but the journalists need to do a little simple research.