Reckless Congress declares war on Russia

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by ikalugin

So the objective of Western parties was to push Russia into the corner in the first place (by moving NATO front-line to the Ukraine and taking out a number of critical industries in the Ukraine and what not)?

Maybe Western parties then did (do) not seek a compromise in the first place, but try to force Russia into obedience (after the 080808 war and Assad)?

I don't think they want to force Russia into obedience, it's hard to make a nuclear power be obedient to be honest, however I think they seek to make their position as advantageous as possible, as indeed any major power would do.
This is just guess work on my behalf, by the way, based upon national interests and good old fashioned imperialism (which never really went away).
I take it you've heard of 'The Great Game'? Aside from in my signature, of course, but many people view the war in Afghanistan and events in Georgia and Ukraine as part of a new 'Great Game' and I must admit, their views hold some water in terms of the geopolitical strategy that is being played out between Russia and the west.
Also, perhaps 'The Grand Chessboard', which I admit I haven't read, but the blurb on wikipedia makes logical sense for any American leadership:

"Regarding the landmass of Eurasia as the center of global power, Brzezinski sets out to formulate a Eurasian geostrategy for the United States. In particular, he writes, it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger should emerge capable of dominating Eurasia and thus also of challenging America's global pre-eminence."
The author was Jimmy Carters NSA so he has an idea of what goes on behind the scenes.