Will Ward vs Kovalev be on par with Louis-schmeling in terms of historical significance?

If there is a world war, it won't be like the previous 2. It will be fought largely from a distance. And I don't think Putin is stupid enough to want mutual destruction via nukes, anyway. I scarcely imagine Putin or the Russians have an answer to the Dustin Nichols check-jab, in any case.

 

Hit the nail on the head. On topic: The U.S. has a good measure of moral and human rights superiority to Russia, especially in civil matters, but nowhere near the difference between Nazi Germany and FDR's U.S. We're both oligarchies now, and the U.S. would undoubtedly be the aggressor on the current projection, on a sovereignty issue that would be hypocritical to say the least, and what's more, two faced, as there are two competing pipelines planned, one from Tehran, one from Qatar. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding ISIS, and we're arming and funding the former, while carrying out a proxy war through radicals, or those that will later become so in Syria already. Assad is fighting foreign origin fighters, and foreign origin interests from the south east and north. It's not a popular rebellion.

 

Good post.

You've zoomed in on the key questions. The interventions in Iraq etc and the support for the Saudis by the US are nothing more than a game for the control of the region's oil.The eventual target is China, which is heavily dependent on oil for its economy. That said, the US has been "boxing clever" and fighting this "war" on the cheap through its regional proxies like the Saudis. I know America put boots on the ground in Iraq, but that was a miscalculation and not a decision to get its hands dirty. There's no appetite for blood in America at the moment.

Russia is being aggressive because of two reasons. 1) It's strong under Putin, and 2) America has been slowly drawing the noose around the Russians for a while, closing in on its borders. Basically the Russians have realised that they draw a line in the sand or risk being choked. They have the great advantage of short lines of communications and the fact that there is a de facto Hezbollah (read Lebanon) - Assad - Iran - Iraq alliance in play. Yes I know the US "helps" the current Iraqi government, but a closer look shows that it's all Iran-aligned.

America is in a crappy position because some of its best allies are either loose cannons (like Erdogan's Turkey) or opposed against other allies (like the Kurds vs the Turks). The US is in no position to launch wars in the Middle East. Best it can hope for is a broken Syria with a small Assad enclave (basically Syria lite) which would achieve in part PNAC goals, and for destroying ISIS and keeping the Kurds and Turks out of each others hair.