Putin's Mandate

(originally published on 8/28/14) 
(re-upped on 3/19/15)

Putin is invading Ukraine, right now. The headlines come rolling in, panic starts to show. Pictures of tanks overriding borders flash across the feeds, and the markets fluctuate as gamblers hedge their bets. Which is the fittest player on the board of geo-Politik today, hmmmm.

The reorganization of the world is on some more, and evolution never knows when to quit. Minor species extinctions create great biological power voids, and we find ourselves neck deep in an age of great and terrible transition, eyes wide to the known unknown, and the vast possibilities of our situation.

And all the madness can be brought around to the fact that the example comes from the top. We, the big brother of the world, set the tone for the less powerful states about how business is done. Bush's unilateral invasion of Iraq is exactly Putin's mandate to so boldly invade and take Crimea, right on stage. And for the Islamic State's international claims of power. It's a war without borders, just like we asked for.

With our shocking and awful displays of contempt for international law, we have become the mandate for rebellion and global terrorism of all kinds around the world.


(edited 3/19/15)