General Discussion

There once was an analyst, Fiona Hill,
Who warned of a bargain that’s ill:
Said Russia implied,
With a wink not denied,
“A swap might be fitting our will.”

“In testimony given one year,
A strange sort of trade did appear:
Venezuela, perhaps,
For Ukraine in our grasp—
A message quite stark and quite clear.”

They hinted, “You’ve got your domain,
Your Monroe Doctrine guarding your lane.
If we step back down south,
Will you quietly mouth
That Ukraine is our strategic terrain?”

A deal of “spheres,” neatly defined,
With borders decided in mind:
Proxy fights here and there,
As if nations were spare—
Just pieces to barter in kind.

So Hill rang the bell long ago,
Of how great-power logics can go:
Far outposts are traded,
Close neighbors invaded—
A warning worth heeding, we know.