Brent Scowcroft Center Senior Adviser Harlan Ullman writes for UPI on the importance of looking at events in Ukraine and other places through a historical lens:
Given the large turnover in newly elected members of both houses of Congress and the ascent of the twenty-somethings to positions of power in the White House, it is pretty clear why American governments suffer from near fatal bouts of historical amnesia or, worse, ignorance.Understanding the past is not a panacea for predicting the future. But not every crisis or issue is tabula rasa and many have roots deep in history.
Some regard the situation in Ukraine and Crimea as a new form of political warfare. Much of this overly hyped and misinformed description is mistakenly based on former KGB lieutenant colonel Vladimir Putin’s background in the intelligence service. Of course Putin has mixed propaganda, disinformation, subversion and information and cyber warfare to destabilize Ukraine and bend Kiev to his will. But what is new?