USA sanctions on various countries has shrunk world trade, reduced oil supplies, caused misery to wretched huddled masses while not doing USA any favors.
USA and Europe has now picked up economic basket case Ukraine as a dependent and depending how the situation turns another basket case Georgia might become a dependent.
There is also the potential for war as the rhetoric ratchets up.
Obama is gutless and contributes to war fear by his lack of control over the rabble of the elected representatives.
http://original.antiwar.com/buchanan/2014/03/21/marching-as-to-war/"...Moreover, in this age of interdependence that America did so much to launch, sanctions are a two-edged sword.
If Ukraine cuts off oil, gas, water and electricity into a seceded Crimea, whose tourist trade is drying up, this could provoke Putin into invading Eastern Ukraine and seizing the lone land bridge onto the peninsula.
It could provoke Russia into cutting off imports from Ukraine, turning off the oil and gas, and calling in Ukraine’s debts. This would precipitate a default by Ukraine, without more Western aid than the $35 billion it is now estimated Kiev will need by 2016.
Are House Republicans willing to vote America’s share of that vast sum and make Ukraine a recipient of U.S. foreign aid roughly equal to what we provide annually to Israel and Egypt?
And if we severely sanction Russia, she could cut off oil and gas to Europe, cause a recession in the eurozone, and move closer to China.
Nixon’s great achievement was to split China off from Moscow. President Reagan’s great achievement was to preside over the conversion of the “evil empire” into a country where he was cheered in Red Square.
What our Greatest Generation presidents accomplished, our Baby Boomer presidents appear to have booted away...