Why Russia No Longer Fears the West  —  The West is blinking in disbelief - Vladimir Putin just invaded Ukraine.  German diplomats, French Eurocrats and American pundits are all stunned.  Why has Russia chosen to gamble its trillion-dollar ties with the West?

Putin's War  —  Obama had no good options to stop the invasion.  In fact, the only mistake the president made was ever suggesting there would be “consequences.”  —  Is the West about to go to war with Russia over the fate of Ukraine?  The question should answer itself.

Putin Smashes Washington's Cocoon  —  A Politico report calls it “a crisis that no one anticipated.”  The Daily Beast, reporting on Friday's US intelligence assessment that “Vladimir Putin's military would not invade Ukraine,” quotes a Senate aide claiming that “no one really saw this kind of thing coming.”