On Putin and the Baltic States

After Putin finishes inhaling Ukraine, the question has to be asked: will he turn his attention to the Baltic states? After all, they were part of both the USSR and the First Russian Empire.

The risk/reward calculus would be totally different. On the plus side: the Baltics are much smaller, and can’t put up much of a fight by themselves; Putin can argue with something of a straight face that intervention is necessary to protect a fairly large Russian minority from persecution; and if NATO chose not to resist, it could mean the end of the alliance. On the down side, the Baltics don’t offer much that he wants, the Grand Duke Vladimir didn’t hang out there, and a full scale war with NATO could result in the total destruction of his regime.

It would be a huge gamble. I don’t think he would do it. But then, Putin seems to have discovered a taste for gambling in his old age, so who knows?