Putin draws analogy with the Bush Iraq neocon legacy over Crimea

Putin, in his rambling speech before the Russian Duma justifying the annexation of Crimea, ranted at length about what he called American betrayal of Russia's interests after the Cold War, and US violations of international law in Iraq, accusing the US of operating under "the rule of the gun," rather than the rule of law:  "Our Western partners headed by the United States prefer not to be guided by international law in their practical policies, but by the rule of the gun," Putin declared. "They have come to believe in their exceptionalism and their sense of being the chosen ones.  That they can decide the destines of the world, that it is only them who can be right." When national interest and history is on Russia's side, "what's good for the goose, is good for the gander," is Putin's essential point, right or wrong.

One of the most interesting (and surprisingly literate) media sources, from the right, for an exegesis of neoconservatism, and its fallout, is the John Bachelor radio program.  Since the Ukraine crisis began, he has regularly interviewed academics about the historical and geopolitical background for this confrontation. Last night, he interviewed Stephen Cohen, NYU professor (formerly Princeton) about Putin's mindset.  Cohen dropped the hyperbolic rhetorical bomb that this is the most serious international confrontation since the Cuban missile crisis, and stems largely from Russia's ire over what Cohen outlined as Putin's (and Kremlin hardliners) perception of a direct betrayal of Russia (through the NATO operation) by the Obama administration after a private deal was allegedly reached between the US and Russia to remove Gaddafi in Libya without a military operation. Whether you believe Cohen, it makes for compelling listening, and echoes similar allegations regarding efforts, rebuffed by the Bush administration, to reach a deal that might have led to Hussein's voluntary exile during the lead up to the Iraq War.

Putin may be going for the big prize with Ukraine, which would be splitting NATO (over sanctions) and driving a wedge between the EU (with its deep economic ties to Russia) and the US. Ukraine itself, now caught in the middle of a power play between Russia and the Western Alliance, may come to deeply regret the Budapest Memorandum, and the surrender of its nuclear arsenal.

John Batchelor podcast with Stephen Cohen

Reuters: Putin says U.S. guided by "the rule of the gun" in foreign policy  

CNN: UAE official: Hussein was open to exile