Are any countries likely to follow Russia's precedent & annex foreign territory?

[Tetro Kornbluth]

That isn't really a done thing anymore. And only powerful states would get away with it (and would be more inclined to impose puppets than actual annexation anyway).

Am I right in thinking that the last violent annexation before Crimea was Kuwait in the run-up to Gulf War I?

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Am I right in thinking that the last violent annexation before Crimea was Kuwait in the run-up to Gulf War I?

If you exclude the ISIS Caliphate's "annexation" of various Syrian and Iraqi territory, then Yes, I think that you are correct in regards to this.

Oh I should added 'from Internationally recognized states'

That isn't really a done thing anymore. And only powerful states would get away with it (and would be more inclined to impose puppets than actual annexation anyway).

Were both Indonesia and Morocco powerful states back in 1975, though?

Both of those annexations only make 'sense' in the post-colonial and Cold War context which no longer is really a factor in 2016.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Not quite the same, is it though?

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Worth noting that those areas have tiny populations in general - The Sakha Republic is larger than all but seven independent states yet its population is smaller than that of Cyprus.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Also, is anything east of the Urals (in Russia) considered Siberia? I thought it was only the part in the Arctic Circle.

Colloquially speaking, yes. Although technically speaking it is this:



That is the Siberian Federal District - one of eight federal districts in Russia. The one to the east of Siberia is the 'Far East' Federal District, and 'Far East' is a term I've seen Russia experts instead of Siberia for at least some of that region. Although many parts of the Far East, Sakha included, and also parts of the 'Ural District' (which is the one to the west of Siberia) are considered historically part of Siberia, the federal districts being only recent political creations. Nowt to do with the Arctic circle though, However the Arctic-Pacific drainage basin watershed being used as the border between Siberia and the Far Eastern district.