• How World War III Could Begin in Latvia | Foreign Policy

    http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/11/16/how-world-war-iii-could-begin-in-latvia

    On a du mal à conceptualiser, mais comme ces derniers temps l’inconcevable est devenu réalité, en même temps...

    Dans les écoles primaires en Norvège, depuis l’élection Donald Trump, on ne parle que de troisième guerre mondiale, allez savoir pourquoi.

    Four years ago, I predicted Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Here’s my next prediction, which by now will strike many people as obvious: The Baltics are next, and will pose one of President-elect Donald Trump’s first and greatest tests. It probably won’t take the form of an overt invasion.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has a clear goal and a grand strategy. But it’s not the most realists perceive. Some argue that he is driven by fundamentally rational, defensive goals: NATO expansion appeared threatening and Russia is pushing back. The West expanded its sphere of influence at Russia’s expense, and Russia is now retaliating. That’s why the “Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault,” according to John Mearsheimer.

    As with most academic realist analysis, this is nonsense. Putin is not driven by cold calculations of rational self-interest, because no human is. We are not Vulcans. We are driven by our perception of self-interest as shaped and defined by our deeper presuppositions and beliefs — which is to say, our ideology or religion.

    #lettonie #russie #états-unis #Pays-baltes #troisième_guerre_mondiale

    • A truly rational Russia would not see NATO and European Union expansion as a threat, because the liberal order is open and inclusive and would actually augment Russia’s security and prosperity. But, for Putin and other Russians who see the world through the lens of Russian religious nationalism, the West is inherently a threat because of its degeneracy and globalism.

      C’est sûr que VVP soit totalement insensible à ce genre d’argument montre, s’il en était encore besoin, à quel point il est irrationnel…
      Mais, bon, comme le dit si bien #Paul_D._Miller, tout le monde l’est…