Both sides need a new cold war. Why do you ask? Take a look at the economics of it. Rumors of an aircraft carrier being decommissioned and the army reduced to 420,000 in the US. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2014/03/07/law-forces-steep-cuts-on-defense-hagel-says.html
The Russian economy is stagnant and starting to fall. I read a report the corruption in the Russian Ground forces is up 425%. So both sides need a new enemy to pretend to fight so they can spend money on defense. The Crimea happens to be the best spot to become the cold war front. The Ukraine is more split in terms of loyalty then any other post Soviet republic. The fact they just had a change of government by "force" left a very much weakened government with little experience in international crisis management. You have a military that is split on who they support and which set of idols they want to follow. To be honest the Russians have made the perfect power play. The west won't respond with troops since they are licking their wounds post war on terror.
So the Crimea is now Russian turf. But I think we will see NATO or at least the EU send some small forces to Ukraine proper as observers. The border of Ukraine with Russia and the new Crimea of the Russian Federation will become militarized. I doubt we will see the big bad days of the cold war with armies standing on each side ready to move with 12 hours notice. But I think we are seeing a major shift toward Russia trying to exert more of a super power role then just holding a veto vote on the UN security council.
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