Last Sunday I warned in a blog post that the Ukraine situation would heat up after the Olympics as Vladimir Putin would not wish to draw attention away from his beloved event as he did during the Beijing Olympics by maneuvering against Georgia. Right on cue the Russians moved against the Crimea in an effort to protect its geographic and strategic interests. The Crimea has been extremely important to the Russians for 300 years as the tsars desired a warm-water port to allow Russian commerce and imperial designs to proceed even when the Northern waters were frozen during the winter months. The Russians will defend their interests just like any other world power and it is in their immediate backyard. The Europeans and U.S. can threaten sanctions and other such nonsense but as Churchill noted long ago, “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.” (October 1939)