Not funny

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Kate Harloe

Kate Harloe Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Not funny</h1>
                <h2><p>Things are going downhill in Eastern Europe. Like, downhill. Less than 48 hours after President Obama gave a speech promising to defend Estonia and the Baltics against Russian aggression, Russian “forces” seized an Estonian officer (at gunpoint). Bit of a slap in the face, no? Everyone hopes the incident will</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/kate-harloe-crosscut-com/">Kate Harloe</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>Things are going downhill in Eastern Europe. Like, <a href="http://www.vox.com/2014/9/5/6110037/estonia-russia-officer-kidnapped?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">downhill</a>. Less than 48 hours after President Obama gave a <a href="http://www.vox.com/2014/9/3/6101507/obama-just-committed-the-us-to-war-against-russia-if-it-invades?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">speech</a> promising to defend Estonia and the Baltics against Russian aggression, Russian “forces” seized an Estonian officer (at gunpoint). Bit of a slap in the face, no? Everyone hopes the incident will blow over, but as Vox’s Max Fisher explains: “A Russian invasion of Estonia would trigger war between Russia and the US, a prospect so dangerous that the world managed to avoid it throughout even the Cold War.” On the sort of bright side, Ukraine and Russian-backed separatist rebels have agreed to a ceasefire starting Friday. President Obama <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/world/europe/ukraine-cease-fire.html?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">said</a> he is "hopeful but, based on past experience, also skeptical" that the truce will hold.</p>
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Things are going downhill in Eastern Europe. Like, downhill. Less than 48 hours after President Obama gave a speech promising to defend Estonia and the Baltics against Russian aggression, Russian “forces” seized an Estonian officer (at gunpoint). Bit of a slap in the face, no? Everyone hopes the incident will blow over, but as Vox’s Max Fisher explains: “A Russian invasion of Estonia would trigger war between Russia and the US, a prospect so dangerous that the world managed to avoid it throughout even the Cold War.” On the sort of bright side, Ukraine and Russian-backed separatist rebels have agreed to a ceasefire starting Friday. President Obama said he is "hopeful but, based on past experience, also skeptical" that the truce will hold.

By Kate Harloe

Kate Harloe is Crosscut's Community Manager &amp; Editorial Assistant. After graduating from Hamilton College, Kate completed two seasons of work for the Southwest Conservation Corps before moving