Since the fall of the pro-Russian government of Ukraine, as the Winter Games were ending, Putin's Russia has annexed the Crimea region by force, secured a vital warm-weather port in the Black Sea and sponsored a civil war in Eastern Ukraine that has claimed the lives of thousands — all within a few hundred miles of NATO's borders.

Russia's military has taken on an aggressive swagger. Highly provocative run-ins are now common with neighbors and NATO nations alike. In the Black Sea, NATO ships like the U.S. destroyer Donald Cook have been buzzed by Russian fighters. Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers have reportedly been tracked near Canada conducting missile strike drills within range of targets in the United States, and Russian airplanes have been tracked as close as 50 miles from the California coast – the closest they've come since the end of the Cold War.

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On Nov. 20, Reuters reported that NATO air assets have scrambled about 400 times this year to intercept Russian fighters and bombers that have routinely operated without turning on their transponders, creating potentially disastrous hazards for civilian air traffic.

Russia has also taken to bullying smaller countries on its borders such as Finland, Moldova, Estonia and others,

Defense experts warn that Putin's forces are on a collision course with NATO that pits the U.S. and its allies against a sophisticated, even "mischievous," foe set on resurrecting the Cold War playbook, according to one leader.

'Highly Disturbing'

Russia's aggressive provocations have multiplied over the past year, according to experts. In November, the European Leadership Network think tank released a paper calling the increase in such incidents as "highly disturbing."

The group pointed to about 45 documented confrontations between Russian military forces and NATO, as well as Finland and Sweden, and argued that the risks of sparking a crisis are growing with each incident.

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"I think we are in a new normal, and the new normal is bad," Stavridis said in a Nov. 25 interview. "The new normal is not quite the cold war ... we're not quite there. But the new normal will be an aggressive, revanchist Russia that seeks to reconstruct a Warsaw Pact-lite around its borders. … I think it is probably the most significant strategic shift that is underway in the world today."

The U.S. is facing down Putin's navy at sea while ratcheting up pressure on its leaders through targeted sanctions. It remains to be seen whether those strategies will work. For now, Putin's dangerous game is tailor-made to bolster his own popularity with Russians, said Fedyszyn, the NWC expert.

"This is not the left side of [Putin's] brain in operation, don't confuse this with logic," Fedyszyn said. "This is national pride, making Russians feel good about how powerful they are. Russia has been feeling dissed for a long time. Now, having spent a little money on defense, they are showing how tough they are. It's part of Putin's calculus, but it's not exactly smart."

Stavridis agreed, saying that ultimately Putin is hurting his country by damaging its economic ties with Western Europe and the United States.

"What I think you are seeing is a Putin who is tactically very successful: by undertaking an annexation of Crimea; a destabilization of Ukraine; a destabilization of Moldova; by sending ships into the Caribbean; sending out long-range bombers. Where is he successful? He's successful in Russia. That's the audience for those activities. He is banging the drum of Russian nationalism louder than we've seen it in 50 years.

"Those tactics help him immeasurably at home to maintain control and to feed the fires of Russian nationalism. He's going to be tactically successful in those regards. He's going to be a strategic failure."

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2014/12/02/russians-bully-europe-putin-navy-nato-breedlove-hudson/70121746/?sf34272906=1

Saw this on my Navy buddy's timeline and thought this was a pretty interesting read.

There's no doubt Russia has been injecting steroids into their own balls lately with the shit they've been pulling, such as teasing Australia, and it seems to me like Putin's trying to test us.  This article however gave me another suggestion to think on:  Perhaps he's losing support in Russia because he's not been flexing his bear-wrangling muscles at us, so he's trying to bolster his own support and popularity.

What do you guys think?

On Nov. 20, Reuters reported that NATO air assets have scrambled about 400 times this year to intercept Russian fighters and bombers that have routinely operated without turning on their transponders, creating potentially disastrous hazards for civilian air traffic.

This might not sound like a particularly big deal, but this is one of the most aggressive actions an aircraft can take. A transponder tells anyone in the area monitoring radar basic stuff, like whether you're military or commercial, what your plane is, and most fundamentally, whether you're friend or foe. It also makes it very difficult to track them on radar, meaning civilian air controllers can't assure the safety of all the flights in the air and minimize risk of collision.

For reference, the 9/11 hijackers turned off their planes' transponders and that's what made is so difficult to respond to them by air.

The two are not mutually exclusive; in fact, they're highly correlated.

Putin would cause war if it suited his interests.

Ex-KGB wants another cold war.