World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

We are getting more information about the strength of the Ukrainian military.  The basic information we have which is largely an estimate gleaned from public sources is that the Ukrainian military probably lacks the strength to do anything about the Russian invasion of Crimea–the Russians seem to have an overwhelming advantage.  But the Ukrainian military could likely hold its own if the conflict expanded outside of Crimea.  So much depends on how President Putin chooses to exploit his advantage in Crimea and whether he has the self-discipline to avoid moving his objectives beyond that simple strategic goal.

There has been a violent extremist attack in China that was reputed to have been launched by Uighurs from the Xinjiang Province.  There are some in Xinjiang who wish to have independence from the central government in China, although it is difficult to gauge the depth of that feeling.  This attack is only the latest of a strong of attacks that have occurred over the last few years.   The Chinese regard the movement as a threat to the territorial integrity of China, and have tried to repress the independence movement with little success.