The only country that would go toe to toe with Russia is the US. China's interests are in Asia and Africa while Russia's are more focused on former Soviet States.
regardless of the "crime vote" under undemocratic conditions.
Woah, hold on there. Russia let in plenty of organizations to oversee the referendum, let's not just go around saying that it was undemocratic just because we don't agree with it.
The US backed the referendum by Montenegro not too long ago, but doesn't back this one, why? Well, Montenegro opted to become its own little nation, whereas Crimea has opted to join and empower a much larger nation, one that is a threat economically and military to the US. This explains the contradiction pretty easily in my opinion.
Btw, Putin violates human rights, right? Guess who else does? The Obama Administration...for example, Guantanamo, the NSA (which he knew nothing about apparently), etc. I don't know why we think America is so democratic, even the legal system is rotted to the core.
Russia has the raw resources and industry to survive on its own. It may need food imported from abroad, but Russian companies have control over enough land abroad to compensate if necessary.
Let's rehash the democratic invasion of Iraq. The democratic intervention of Syria (eventhough 55-65% of the population still supported the Asad regime), the democratic construction of a missile defense system in Poland. As if the US isn't making its own moves to "contain" Russia and "expand" its own influence. If anything Russia is reacting to American Imperialism.
Meh, someone is watching (and believing) way too much Western media, connect the dots for yourself and you'll see a much bigger picture. The US will lie to its citizens to protect its own interests. Understandable, I can't even necessarily get mad at the US government, though when they start stripping citizen's of their rights, then I get pissed.
Democracy doesn't mean just voting.
Err, what else does it entail in a referendum? Sharing your stance by saying yes or no in this situation isn't a trick, you just make a choice. None of the organizations present claimed there was manipulation of the votes and many of these organizations are quite reputable, so are they all lying?
Or maybe Crimea really wanted to join Russia. But that can't be! It would mean the US and EU are wrong! :O
The US and EU only support referendums that serve their interest. They won't support a broad range of self-determination because then it could turn against them in later years, especially with growing ethnic diversity in the EU and US.
