Whatever Good Will Was Gained During the Olympics in Sochi – Vladimir Putin Has Lost with the Russian Invasion of the Ukraine!

 

Ukraine Russion Troops

Ukraine Map

Dear Commons Community,

The news media are reporting that Russian military troops have landed in the Crimea in the Ukraine and have literally taken over the area which is the southern part of the country.  In a news conference yesterday, President Obama said that “there will be costs” for this action.   According to the Associated Press:

“KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked parliament for permission to use the country’s military in Ukraine, the Kremlin said Saturday.

Putin said the move is needed to protect ethnic Russians and the personnel of a Russian military base in Ukraine’s strategic region of Crimea.

“I’m submitting a request for using the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine pending the normalization of the socio-political situation in that country,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.

He sent the request to the Russian legislature’s upper house, which has to approve the motion, according to the constitution.

In Crimea, the pro-Russian regional prime minister had earlier claimed control of the military and police there and asked Putin for help in keeping peace, sharpening the discord between the two Slavic neighbor countries.

It was the latest escalation following the ouster of Ukraine’s pro-Russian president last week by a protest movement aimed at turning Ukraine toward the European Union and away from Russia.

Armed men described as Russian troops took control of key airports and a communications center in Crimea on Friday. Ukraine has accused Russia of a “military invasion and occupation” – a claim that brought an alarming new dimension to the crisis, and raised fears that Moscow is moving to intervene on the strategic peninsula where Russia’s Black Sea fleet is based.

Ukraine’s population is divided in loyalties between Russia and Europe, with much of western Ukraine advocating closer ties with the European Union while eastern and southern regions look to Russia for support. Crimea is mainly Russian-speaking.

Crimean’s prime minister, Sergei Aksyonov, declared that the armed forces, the police, the national security service and border guards in the region will answer only to his orders.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk opened a Cabinet meeting in the capital, Kiev, by calling on Russia not to provoke discord in Crimea, a peninsula on the Black Sea.

“We call on the government and authorities of Russia to recall their forces, and to return them to their stations,” Yatsenyuk was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. “Russian partners, stop provoking civil and military resistance in Ukraine.”

This is all very sad and a horrific follow-up to the Olympic Games in Sochi.

Tony

 

Nobel Laureate Economist and New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman Will Leave Princeton and Join the Faculty of the CUNY Graduate Center!

Paul Krugman

Dear Commons Community,

The Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman,  announced in a blog post yesterday that he’s retiring from Princeton in June 2015 and will join the faculty at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York the following August. He’ll still write his column for the New York Times.

Krugman’s worked at Princeton as a professor of economics and international affairs since 2000 and was quick to note that his decision is not meant as a criticism of the “superb” school.

Krugman at age 61 is just more interested in the lifestyle that New York City can offer.

“In terms of geography, the answer seemed:  New York is the best place to pursue my current interests,” he wrote.

He’s also keen to study income inequality which is a CUNY focus. Krugman will be a distinguished professor at the Graduate Center’s Luxembourg Income Study Center, which conducts research and collects data on income, wealth, employment and other topics from around the world.

“As a public intellectual and one of the most influential economists today, Paul Krugman brings to the Graduate Center a broad perspective that fits perfectly with the LIS Center’s focus on interdisciplinary inquiry,” LIS director Janet Gornick said in a press release announcing Krugman’s appointment. “I am thrilled that he is coming to join our team.”

Welcome Professor Krugman to the Graduate Center!

Tony