Not to be too political, but what does Vladimir Putin want?  As most people know, Putin has for the past year or so been waging a battle, primarily through surrogate Ukrainians but with some of his own soldiers as well, to take over, the international community surmises, the one time Soviet satellite and now independent republic of Ukraine.  He is already well on his way to accomplishing his goal:  the Crimea region is gone.
     We can of course argue that, for example, the preponderance of native Russians in the Crimea indicates that if given a choice, they would prefer to be part of Russia, or that the natural ties between Russia and Ukraine run very deep and should not be ignored, and we can certainly identify bits of truth in these viewpoints.  But this does not mean that Putin is right to do what he is doing.  Very few nations, including, unfortunately, the United States, will enter another without invitation, and those that do are invariably more concerned about their own well being rather than that of the other.  Everyone, particularly nations, wants her space, her turf, what she considers to be rightfully hers.
     Yet being human, or being humans in a nation, means, it seems, to wish for more than one's "turf."  Whether in interpersonal relations or international exchange, it means to not look out for one's own interest only, but seek the best interests of the other as well.  If a conflict arises between these, then the best course of action is to look past one's own interest to that of the other.  In other words, to give rather than get.
     Boundaries provide essential definition.  We cannot live without them.  If we think ourselves, or our nation, to be more important than the boundaries that have defined us, we may be well to do so.  But we should be careful.  If we break a boundary, we break ourselves which, unless we know where we are going, may lead to further fracture still.