Edinburgh China/Taiwan, Linked in to Crimea

摘要

Russia's elegant and bloodless excision of Crimea from Ukraine is a fine example of territorial reclamation through the application of just the right amount of force in just the right place at just the right time. We should not be so surprised, for there are precedents - successful and not. Argentina tried it with the Falklands, but failed by misjudging the effect of sea control, and the resolve of its opponent. Iraq tried with Kuwait, but also failed, again misjudging resolve, and the effect of air control. Other examples would include Egypt and Sinai, Turkey and Cyprus, and the general mess around Georgia/Armenia/Azerbaijan. In short, reclamation of lost territory works, if one gets the military and geopolitical equation exactly right.