[quote=So Boerd]1. Say conquest is dead to Putin in Ukraine and China in the Senkaku and Spratlys.[/quote]
Okay, you got me. That's literally the only contemporary example of this, though, but you're right, it is significant.

Now, the HOPE is that the world will react accordingly to this EVENTUALLY, we'll need to wait and see though. There's also that there is a very strong Russian culture in Crimea and we don't have the full story regarding that, approval ratings in Crimea toward Putin say, to me, that we aren't getting the full story.

[quote=So Boerd]2. Conquest is expensive only when the others resist. How much would the little cities of Alaska be able to resist a Russian invasion, when all of Ukraine can not? And in light of Russia and China, the country would reform into the US rather than be conquered[/quote]
But lets be real though, the UN, let alone the US and our allies would never abide by this. Russia wouldn't even try it because Putin is smart enough to know they'd never get away with it in the global stage.