Obama made live statement Friday from White House on Ukraine

[H. Ross Peron]

Glad to see the President made a statement on this.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

Absolutely. Anarchism believes that the state cannot be turned into a vehicle for working class empowerment because the state, in anarchist thought, is the outward growth of the bourgeois. In their reading, smashing the state and smashing capitalism are one and the same, and one cannot hope to truly establish socialism without first smashing the state. They're a bit more idealistic than your rank-and-file Marxist-Leninist, to say the least.

The ultimate irony of anarchist thought is that the rise of both the patriarchal agrarian overlords and the bourgeoisie are themselves a consequence of anarchy.

[THE_TITAN]

Why is the POTUS and USA getting involved in the Ukrainian crisis? Surely this is an issue that the EU and Russia has to resolve. After all none of the Ukrainians are on the streets fighting to be part of the United States.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

Why is the POTUS and USA getting involved in the Ukrainian crisis? Surely this is an issue that the EU and Russia has to resolve. After all none of the Ukrainians are on the streets fighting to be part of the United States.

The USA has a responsibility as a superpower counterbalance to Russia, the USA has an obligation to stand behind her EU allies, and the USA needs to gain and maintain moral authority on issues of freedom and self-determination.  Among other reasons.

With great power comes great responsibility.

[THE_TITAN]

Why is the POTUS and USA getting involved in the Ukrainian crisis? Surely this is an issue that the EU and Russia has to resolve. After all none of the Ukrainians are on the streets fighting to be part of the United States.

The USA has a responsibility as a superpower counterbalance to Russia, the USA has an obligation to stand behind her EU allies, and the USA needs to gain and maintain moral authority on issues of freedom and self-determination.  Among other reasons.

With great power comes great responsibility.

You are probably right, but the EU itself is a great power if you consider the combined resources of all member-states. I am thankful that the US is always an ally of Western Europe but it has to be remembered that the EU have a vital part to play in the resolution of this crisis. Some people in the US state dept. *cough* Victoria Nuland *cough* need to realise this.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

You are probably right, but the EU itself is a great power if you consider the combined resources of all member-states. I am thankful that the US is always an ally of Western Europe but it has to be remembered that the EU have a vital part to play in the resolution of this crisis. Some people in the US state dept. *cough* Victoria Nuland *cough* need to realise this.

I don't discredit the might of the EU, but its lack of constitutional sovereignty, IMHO, will always prevent it from being a true superpower.  The member states, combined, are extremely powerful, but when shove comes to punch, is there a credible guarantee that that power can be mustered?  If there's any disagreement at all on a course of action, Germany, France, or the UK can dig in its heels and there's really not anything the EU can do about it.  Power is nothing without credibility.