UKRAINE, CRIMEA, PUTIN, OBAMA

The conventional wisdom holds that Russia is not leaving Crimea; that Putin wants more; and that Putin has outmaneuvered Obama on the world stage. The conventional wisdom is about half-right. Russia Is Not Leaving Crimea Since the Russian incursion into Crimea, Vladimir Putin's popularity within Russia has soared. CNN has reported that he enjoys an

UKRAINIAN UPHEAVAL: CAN OBAMA AND PUTIN DO A DE-ESCALATION DANCE?

View Larger Map   If Viktor Yanukovych, the Russian-friendly President of Ukraine and his dentist son had been satisfied with stealing millions of dollars from the Ukrainian people instead of billions, the US-Russian confrontation over Ukraine and its autonomous province of Crimea would probably never have happened. Such, however, was not the case. The Yanukovych