Current World Events

[Exodus]

February 25th, 2022 

I'm making this thread in regards to the situation in Ukraine, but I am intending it to be used as a place to discuss other world events currently occurring.

As everyone here may know, Ukraine is getting invaded by Russia, and it's future as a nation is inherently uncertain. Now, I don't want to make this thread political, but in my opinion, sanctions aren't enough for Russia. In 2014, I believe, with the annexation of Crimea, Russia was testing the waters, seeing how the world would react against the countries actions. The response given to this annexation was solely I the form of sanctions, and not really much more. Now, 8 years later, in February of 2022, Russia is again getting hit with sanctions, albeit much stronger and much more effective sanctions. However, this in it of itself will never be enough to deter Russia from aggression, yet alone stop the invasion of Ukraine. With Russian troops kicking at Kyiv's front door, sanctions will go nowhere; it is too little too late. With proper military support for Ukraine not only in terms of munitions, but modern equipment, Russia may be able to be held back, possibly even repulsed, however, the time to act has long passed in terms of military support, new equipment means training, and landing troops to train Ukrainians in the middle of a war may be perceived as precursor to a much larger scale war in Russia's eyes. The problem is that, Russia, being a key supplier of energy for Europe, essentially has it in a choke hold. Not to mention in those 8 years from the annexation of Crimea to the invasion of Ukraine acted as a buffer, essentially allowing Russia to gather it's assets and stockpile necessary resources for it to become a self sufficient state, meaning sanction will not so much as merely inconvenience at the current moment. Gas prices rose almost 62% in Europe following the initial Russian incursion into Ukrainian territory. Though Russia is Europe's main source of gas, what I don't understand is why Europe didn't bother to search for alternative sources of energy, and instead opted to rely on Russia for it's gas needs knowing full well that Russia is a country not very well known for its efforts in keeping world peace. 

I like to think of world politics as a chess game, as in chess, the one who wins is always the one who thinks ahead. One must think about every possible option before making a move. Sure, you can move a piece which may benefit you at the current moment, but failing to notice that moving that piece has endangered others is what will lose you the game; think of it as short term thinking vs long term thinking. 

In terms of the chess game in Europe, the current situation in Europe is that Russia has Europe in check, and Europe and it's allies must respond accordingly. Though I hope Ukraine does emerge triumphant, it will be difficult for it do so, especially against Russia's military might. 

What opinions do you guys have on the current situation?