#1 Why has Russia waited almost eight full years to complete their Crimea campaign?
Time/timing being the factor of prime concern. Something must have changed, as it seems quite clear that those eight years were not spent by Russia in planning a quick and decisive action to annex the rest of Ukraine.
This is the primary question for me, answer that and the rest of my questions probably fade away. There is no benefit that I can see to either side in pursuing what appears to be an open-ended and escalatory conflict, economically or strategically. Free trade is now restricted, and national militaries are now tied up in reserve in case they are needed in that region. If a sound military policy for large nations is the ability to wage war on 2.5 fronts simultaneously at minimum this will count as half a front, if not one full front. Given other instabilities around the world that might require a military response, I would be quite hesitant to open this one in the first place.
As cozy as the Sino-Russo relations might seem to be on the surface there has always been a bit of competition between the two for gains in territory in Eastern Asia, and now to some extent in Southwestern Asia.
In Sino-American relations: Taiwan's status coupled with recent military activity is a bit of an unknown.
For certain, this situation has released a bit of uncertainty into the world: Markets shun uncertainty as do Militaries, they both get a bit "edgy" in uncertain situations.
#2 What was the recent Kazakhstan Revolution (JAN2022) all about?A small blip on the radar in the recent news cycle for the United States, probably of much more interest to their nearby neighbors China and Russia.
Possibly unrelated to the Ukraine situation, but who knows? Apparently it was resolved through a government crackdown on dissidents and everything is "back to normal" there, whatever normal might be for the country...
#3 Finland/Sweden interested in NATO membership?Hah, this question is not a new one that has suddenly popped up into the geo-political scene due to the current Ukraine situation:
Visit to Finland and Sweden by the North Atlantic CouncilAs far back as October of last year, apparently, discrete advances on this front were being made by one or more interested parties.
Who was infatuated with
whom is probably the pertinent data-point here
(+19.5)!
#4 What has been going on in the worldwide production & reserves of Helium?This rabbit-hole is probably the most fun of my many questions related to the current Ukraine CrySis.
I mean who doesn't like a helium-filled balloon?For one thing, it makes your voice sound really funny. For another thing, if you can manage to super-chill Helium to its liquid state it displays some really interesting chemical properties that are fun as well.
Probably my favorite is the "super-fluidity" or complete absence of viscosity for He-3 & He-4. What military, industrial or economic applications that has to do with
the price of tea in China I leave to those with higher pay-grades than myself.
Of some interest might be the following three sites:
Helium statistics and informationSuperfluidity in HeliumUnited States National Helium ReservesAbsolutely, Nautical Shore.
