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2014-10-16 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
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Putin's Next Move Could Make Eastern Europe Explode
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[Business Insider] What is going on in Vladimir Putin's mind?
That's the question a panel of Russia experts was trying to answer Tuesday morning. Attention on Russia and the crisis in Ukraine has dwindled as the press has focused more on the West's fight against the extremist group calling itself the Islamic State.
US Secretary of State John Kerry also announced Tuesday increased intelligence-gathering cooperation with Russia on the group - also known as ISIS - a particularly significant development given the recent thaw in US-Russian relations.
But this panel, which was moderated by Reuters, took a much more alarmist tone when speaking about America's relations with Moscow and speculating about Putin. All the experts in attendance warned Putin's recent moves in Ukraine might only be the start of new territorial ambitions.
Three of the four panelists - New Yorker editor David Remnick, journalist and author Masha Gessen, Russian political activist and former grand chessmaster Garry Kasparov, and former Treasury Department official Roger Altman - agreed Putin could soon try to stretch his influence into the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
"They already are under pressure," Gessen, the author of a 2012 unauthorized biography of Putin, said of the Baltics. "That's very much where he's doing his nuclear saber-rattling, and that's where he's planning to call NATO's bluff."
Unlike Ukraine, all three Baltic states are NATO members. NATO's Article 5 requires all members of the alliance come to the defense of any member that is attacked or targeted.
Putin last month made casual mention of his country's nuclear arsenal, around the same time NATO accused Russian forces of an "incursion" in Ukraine. Many analysts have speculated Putin's next move could come in the Baltic states, something that would be a clear challenge to NATO.
Amid the bluster from Putin - who also reportedly said in a private conversation he could invade Poland, Romania, and the Baltic states if he really wanted to - NATO states made a point of countering with strong rhetoric of their own.
President Barack Obama traveled to Estonia last month on the way to a meeting in Wales with other NATO states, in a trip the White House said was aimed at reassuring NATO allies in the Baltics that felt threatened by Putin's moves in Ukraine. The message, a White House adviser said, was for Putin to "not even think about messing around" with the region.
Excellent map and link at the site. 
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Posted by Besoeker 2014-10-16 00:00||
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Posted by g(r)omgoru 2014-10-16 01:58||
2014-10-16 01:58||
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Posted by ed in texas 2014-10-16 08:30||
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Posted by Bobby 2014-10-16 10:26||
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Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2014-10-16 18:53||
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Posted by DarthVader 2014-10-16 19:01||
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