Sheldon Richman on How American Hawks Risk Escalating the Ukrainian Crisis

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With Russia and the United States confronting each other over Ukraine, the world is at a dangerous juncture. While the chances of war between the two behemoths seem small—these are nuclear powers that have avoided war for over 60 years—nothing can be taken for granted, Sheldon Richman writes. Governments are, after all, run by human beings who are tainted by arrogance, vainglory, and the fear of humiliation. What Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing in Crimea and threatening to do in eastern Ukraine in troublesome. But what's most worrisome, says Richman, are the actions of the U.S. government, which could aggravate the Ukrainian conflict.