There’s an intriguing post at RealClearWorld about the interrelationships of the Eurozone crisis, the Ukrainian crisis, and concerns about Iran’s getting nuclear weapons. Here’s the peroration:
Germany needs a deal with Russia to be able to manage an existential crisis for the eurozone; Russia needs a deal with the United States to limit U.S. encroachment on its sphere of influence; and the United States needs a deal with Iran to refocus its attention on Russia. No conflict is divorced from the other, though each may be of a different scale. Germany and Russia can find ways to settle their differences, as can Iran and the United States. But a prolonged eurozone crisis cannot be avoided, nor can a deep Russian mistrust of U.S. intentions for its periphery.
The author appears to believe that the common thread uniting the three “crises” is Russia. I think he’s missing the forest for the trees. For once the problem is not the United States. The connecting thread is Germany.
At Minsk 2, Germany replaced the US as the leader of Europe and chose Russia as its partner. This is the beginning of the US’ long defeat.