...if Putin spends all of the rest of 2014, 2015 and 2016 marching across eastern Europe. His minimum goal: Restore the Imperial Russian borders in eastern Europe. Biting off the best parts of Ukraine, leaving a puppet rump state behind. Same with Moldova. Same with Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania. Belarus is virtually part of his empire anyway. All this easily accomplished by mid 2015. Then it gets a little more challenging. Putin will want to restore the 1914 borders. That means he has to take Poland. Poland will fight but with no allies it will be 1939 all over again. Putin annexes Galicia, Slovakia, and East Prussia. A gauge of his ambition will be Silesia. After the seven years War, Silesia was Prussian territory. If Putin is not too overly ambitious, he cuts a deal with Germany ceding them Silesia (or making it a helpless buffer state). If he is ambitious he just takes Silesia, too. Now Putin's Russia is bigger than Nicky's Russia. As Putin's T-90s roll across eastern Europe, neo-isolationism may become an issue in the 2016 US elections. But it may not. America has a long history of ignoring Europe. If Hitler had not been a meathead, the US may have contented itself with stomping Japan after Pearl Harbor. Especially if bossy is elected on a platform of more of the same, the US could go into the shell it was in in the early 30s. If Bossy wins and the US stays neo-isolationist, Putin might be tempted to take a bite out of Germany. What's to stop him. I don't see the Germans backing away from their welfare state to re-arm. their industrial base is formidable, they could be a load by January 2017, but the question is German will. If Germany is invaded by Russia, who come to Germany's aid? Who could?
Why and why some speculating Russia will invade Baltic States? Russia is not interesting at all to invade any country for the moment. Times is different now.
Your speculations are groundless. Russians do not want to restore Russian Empire. Putin does not plan this. Otherwise, he would confront NATO expansion much earlier. Unfortunately, West Europe and USA had much more respect to the former Soviet Union. Now, when Russia became a democracy, they decided this is the right time to make a few encroachment's, naming it "success" of NATO. Russians want to unite their people threatened by NADO. - - - Updated - - - Baltic countries are different. There, Russians are a minority and they are wiling to integrate with locals. Ukraine is populated by the same people, language, culture and a long history together. Do not listen FOX and other prostitutes of corporate media.
Putin did not confront NATO before because he could not. But when Hussein Obama neutered the US military, America has to go isolationist. The rest of NATO could not defeat Libya. Today, Putin advances because he can. Throughout history, that is sufficient.
