Russia Rampant?

For John, BLUF:  Russia will likely remain expansionist Russia under President Putin.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From The Instapundit we have this item:

THE KEY WORD IS “ILLUSION:”  Russia Has Become Dangerous Again:  The illusion of a stable Europe died yesterday with the murdered passengers of MH17.  Mitt Romney was mocked for pointing this out in 2012.  Now it has become so obvious that David Frum is saying it.

There are comments at the link.

Mr Frum concludes his article in The Atlantic thusly:

And we are all more vulnerable to that danger because we have let atrophy the institutions necessary to meet and contain that danger. It’s time—past time—to build those institutions back. That’s been the meaning of the Ukraine crisis from the start. The terrible heartbreak of MH17 might have been averted if we had absorbed that meaning early. But better to absorb it now than to leave it any longer.

On the other hand, it isn't like Mr Frum is an acolyte of President Obama.  He co-authored a book with Mr Richard Perle.

But, that doesn't take away from the idea that Europe, and North America,♠ need to strengthen institutions of security.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  What is the collective term for the US and Canada?  I have seen CANUS, but that isn't an obvious term.  North America doesn't do it, since Mexico doesn't much care about Europe these days, although they did provide combat forces in World War II, including Escuadrón 201 which flew P-47s on combat operations in the Philippines.