A Box of Rain?

Thinking back to my unique vantage point of quietly seeing Ukraine in the late 2013, the different cities in the East I visited, that sense of an oddly normal feeling. Watching peaceful, yet ardent Student protest in Dnipro marching down Karla Marx Boulevard to the shopping centers to rally, and seeing them catch a little guff from older people,  for their pro-EU stance. Really, it was a strangely peaceful bubble then.

What happened in our US election meddling was certainly a direct outcome,  of the EuroMaidan's success , along with the Magnitsky act's implementation. Now,  as President Trump is still getting his "sea legs" as CINC/ POTUS,  he still has that vaguely untouchable status with the RUssian Federation and Kremlin leadership, yet as I read this conclusion to this well thought out piece in Salon Magazine, https://www.salon.com/2017/11/10/former-fbi-counter-spy-on-mueller-trump-and-putin-russia-is-winning/ and as I struggled in my mind to come up with any sort of vaguely humorous anecdote to write about in my blog, it was perhaps this thought :

That Mister Trump is vaguely akin,  in some ways,  with his greatly superior ability to deploy the force of  Military and economic power against any adversary ( he and his leadership team ) that they chooses to fully engage,  it would  perhaps  be something like George Foreman was,  when he went into the ring in Zaire Africa, against Muhammed Ali. If you watched the Spike Lee movie, and saw George Foreman destroying those heavy punching bags, just leaving massive, impossible dents in them. Most people said Ali probably stood no serious chance, other than to live to fight another day.
https://youtu.be/bVseoF1-p3M

 if it does come to a quietly or overtly serious clash with Russia, that according to the Salon article, they're far ahead of us, on thinking out their approach to things , potentially,  they'd maybe be looking at the "Rope a Dope" style strategy in their foreign, domestic and strategic policy to counter the US /EU  initiatives ,  as we continue attempting to grapple with the logistics,  of stabilizing Ukraine and it's further integration with the EU.
Perhaps it is hard to equate a complex process spanning years with an analogy of a single  fight, a "rumble in the Jungle" in Zaire , Africa that goes down over a couple hours. Often it's been compared to a three level chess board (rather than a boxing match ) . Of course, there is the Judo analogy, yet I think the tapestry of the situation has shifted. Any sporting scenario can be adapted, soccer, tennis, etc

It still remains to be seen and sensed what role China is truly playing, in the conflict and potentially how they could contribute towards a resolution of the conflict. Viewing in an askance manner, North Korea's hidden relationships with the Kremlin, via that cross- over in the buttressing of the rogue DPRK regime will be intriguing for some period of time.
The lesson that Ukraine learned the hard way,  about giving up it's Nuclear option , is looking like a non- starter for North Korea , in their  analysis of the pressure to back off their weapons development. I'm hoping that things will mellow out and resolve, yet the I think personally, the World has to prove that we are doing our best to support Ukraine's sovereign rights to regain full control of their territory,  as they struggle to emerge from this ugly hybrid war in their East. As to the possibility of reparations for damages ? It continues to be a labyrinth of Mirrors as to the proofing, and process of accountability for MH17. That would only be some hypothetical  starting  point of repairing the harm done, if it can ever go to trial at the World Court . Certainly,  the MH17 incident marked a point of lost momentum for Ukraine, wherein things shifted quickly, to the outcome of a stalemate.

https://www.salon.com/2017/11/10/former-fbi-counter-spy-on-mueller-trump-and-putin-russia-is-winning/

https://youtu.be/bVseoF1-p3M

Alexander Demchenko, journalist

Recently, the Russian leadership has been constantly chasing the Russian leadership at every step in the international arena. Nowadays, any aggressive actions that are being taken in the Kremlin, run into rather stiff opposition from their opponents - developed countries. The whole world community has already realized the very essence and price of these actions. Already, it seems, everyone without exception understood: the words and statements sounding from the Kremlin, you should not believe, because there is only one "truth", it has a beneficial "truth", which has nothing to do with reality.

And, most notably, those countries that, a few weeks ago, referred themselves to Russia's friends, rather, tried to show it during their visits to Moscow - for example, India or China, began to gradually turn away from their "toxic" partner.

And the matter, as you know, is not in US sanctions, more precisely, not only in sanctions, because these penalty measures are a consequence, not a reason. It's all about the hybrid methods that the Kremlin is using; and not only in Europe, but already in Asia - both against enemies and against friends. However, I do not think that the current Russian administration has a clear idea of ​​who is friends and who are enemies.

In general, after the failed APEC Asia summit in Vietnam, it became absolutely clear: the process can not be reversed, the pressure against the Kremlin will grow day by day.

Let's say that Moscow was able to intimidate for a short period of time (until the electoral fever ended) of the EU member states by terrorists from IGIL, refugees from Syria, "problematic" Ukraine, which, as the irrepressible Russian propagandists daily admonish, "is about to collapse" .

However, no one even thought that Russia would undertake to blackmail not only Europe but also China, using the "hybrid practices" against the authorities of the Asian state that they had been tested earlier in a number of European and Middle Eastern states. In Beijing, a similar game stealthily did not understand. And this is not a tactical, but a strategic mistake by the Kremlin.

True, it would be better if Vladimir Putin did not try to change the Asian political landscape, but what happened happened - the carriers of Russian passports from IGIL migrated from Syria and Iraq, went to Asia, where the Kremlin wants to aggravate the situation in the region, including the Chinese border.

It is known what the Bashar Assad war led against his people in Syria, the participation in it of Russia, which created only the appearance of the fight against terrorism, to the multimillion flows of refugees to Europe.

one thing is for sure : you cannot stop the fire without the truck carry the men and gear to pump the water.