Is There Any Downside For Russia?

Maybe:

Internationally, Russia's use of force could in the long run completely undermine Russian credibility when it speaks against the use of force in Iran or condemns potential future confrontation between Israel and Hizbullah (in 2006, Russia condemned in the harshest terms Israel's "excessive use of force").

Finally, as Israelis know well, bombing and invading small countries never looks good on TV in the West, however justified it might be. In the court of public opinion, Russia has already lost, something the independent Russian media was quick to acknowledge. Some in the US are already calling for a American boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and that may perhaps be only the beginning.

Credibility and world opinion--does Russia really care about that? In WWII, Russia started out as Hitler's ally and after switching sides managed to clean up after the war. Has the West gained any credibility in Russia's eyes since then?

What is more at stake is the credibility of the West--and there is nothing being said that is going to impress Russia. Boycott the Olympics in 2014? Six years from now who will feel that strongly about it. Besides, that's an especially odd thing to suggest with the Olympics being held in post-Tiananmen square China. The US has already boycotted the Olympics in Russia once, and did not prove anything.

If you're going to argue a downside for Russia, you're going to have to do better than that.

Technorati Tag: Russia and Georgia.