Quote Originally Posted by cocco
...but I definitely wouldn't rule out "peacekeeping" missions, escalated cyber attacks etc.
Fair enough, I wouldn't rule this out either. But let's not pretend this is exclusive to the enemy. We do "peacekeeping" missions. That's another way of saying we enforce our interests on rogue countries. I'm not saying that makes it ok for Russia to do what they like, this isn't excusing their behaviour. This is refuting your idea that Russia are the bullies and NATO/USA are the bully-stoppers. That's naive, in my opinion. All world superpowers are bullies, now and throughout history. Given USA are the current great superpower in the world, I'd say that makes them the biggest bully of them all.

Do I want another country to replace USA as the world's great bully? I'm not so sure about that. I'm not sat here hoping for the collapse of USA as a superpower. They are the UK's most important ally when it comes to geopolitics. Not so much economically, but if USA were to be replaced by Russia, that wouldn't be good for the UK at all, nor the rest of Europe. I understand why people default to "them bad us good" but it's not the real story. There are no good guys when it comes to geopolitics, everyone is out for their own interests.