Source Alert
SOURCE ALERT: USC Experts on the Crisis in Ukraine
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“We’ve stumbled into a tragedy that can have no winners. Ukraine ‘belongs’ neither to Russia nor the European Union. It is too culturally and politically diverse to fit neatly in either camp, and the only solution is one that preserves ties with both.”
Robert English
Expert on the politics of Russia and the former U.S.S.R, identity/ethnicity in Eastern Europe, the Cold War
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“This is a by-product of the ‘red line’ error with Syria. Threatening to act in light of a WMD violation and then doing nothing encourages more aggressive behavior from the other side. Obama and Putin are utterly mismatched. Obama is comfortable around intellectuals, not someone with a predatory nature and a lot of experience at in-fighting. It is not likely that either one has much use for the other and it won’t be getting better after the Ukraine crisis.”
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“Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has already cost them financially – witness the huge selloff in the Russian stock market. The U.S. and Europe have the ability to ratchet those costs far higher. Unfortunately, sanctions are costly to the countries imposing them as well as to the target country, so there is a free-rider problem. Everyone would prefer that someone else impose the sanctions.”
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“Members of the G8, countries representing more than 40% of the world’s GDP, will attempt to support political and economic cooperation by sending signals of their disapproval by refusing to participate in the G8 summit. Cancellation of a head-of-state visit is a resounding diplomatic snub. Unfortunately, it may be the full extent of any feasible immediate collective response.”
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“The crisis in Ukraine now represents the greatest international crisis since President Obama took office, and it is critical that the U.S. exert diplomatic, political and economic pressure to isolate Putin and prevent any Russian takeover or partition of Ukraine.”
