Russia's Behavior Keeps NATO Expanding

In the Balkans, NATO has outmuscled Russia from the Economist [of London]
"Montenegro’s accession fills in one of the few remaining gaps in the Western alliance."

The Newest Route for Syrian Refugees

Slovenia: The New, Tiny Pathway to Western Europe from the Atlantic
"After Hungary sealed its border with Croatia, thousands of refugees are being diverted to the Massachusetts-sized Alpine country."

Lots of Global Hot Spots Where the US Has No Stake

Don't Worry About Worried Allies (Paul Pillar) from the National Interest 
"... the United States has no such stake whatsoever and can only be ill-served by appearing to take sides in sectarian conflicts. Saudi unease about negotiations with Iran has to do with a post-agreement Iran becoming a stronger competitor to other oil exporters and giving the United States greater diplomatic and security options in the Persian Gulf region than it does now; again, U.S. interests on these subjects are quite different from those of the Saudis."

Assessing Good and Bad Reasons to Intervene...

Kosovo, Crimea, and Precedents (Daniel Larison) from the American Conservative
"Just as the U.S. and NATO can’t stop other governments from invoking Kosovo to justify their illegal actions, Russia has no say in who might invoke their action in Crimea in the future in ways that they didn’t envision or approve. Those that choose to use the Kosovo “precedent” for their own purposes will probably come to regret it later."
The question this column raises is ... is it EVER legitimate for other countries to intervene when thousands or tens of thousands of people are being slaughtered, like for real?  Putin invokes Kosovo to defend his actions in Crimea -- but there was little if no persecution going on in Crimea of ethnic Russians (like in the real world) whereas the Kosovars were facing brutal ethnic cleansing.