With escalating violence in southern and eastern Ukraine and no solution in sight, the Ukraine crisis has become the world's most turbulent geopolitical conflict since that triggered by the terrorist attacks against the United States in 2001.
The U.S.-led sanctions strategy will neither de-escalate the tensions between the West and Russia nor bolster the imperiled pro-Western Ukrainian government. But even with tightening sanctions against Russia and growing violence in Ukraine, there is little chance that Cold War II is about to start.
The U.S. approach has been to ratchet up sanctions in response to Russian aggression, while ensuring that America's allies remain united. At a recent joint press conference, U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a new, lower threshold for additional sanctions. Previously, that threshold was a direct Russian military invasion; now, as Merkel explained, if Russia disrupts Ukraine's May 25 elections, "further sanctions will be unavoidable."