Russia has responded ingeniously to the argument that its forces should leave Georgia – by redefining Georgia! Having announced that Russia recognises the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, Moscow now can say that its troops on the ground in these territories are no longer in Georgia. Howzat? As and when needed […]
This reads well: Imagine what modern Europe would look like now if Poland had the political status of Georgia, lying in some sort of political-moral twilight zone with former Soviet interests linked to the KGB having a far freer time to penetrate into that society and play games with Polish assets. As […]
Foreign Secretary David Miliband spells out the UK position on Georgia: The Georgian crisis is about more than vital issues of humanitarian need and rule of law over rule of force. It raises a fundamental issue of whether, and if so how, Russia can play a full and legitimate part […]
More on Russia, always a rich seam for foreign policy First Principles. Thus Max Hastings gives us a striking Russia metaphor: The Russians yearn for respect, in the same fashion as any inner-city street kid with a knife. They will become willing to play with the west by western rules […]
Michael Binyon deploys chess metaphors to describe Russia’ s military push into Georgia: Vladimir Putin lost several pawns on the chessboard – Kosovo, Iraq, Nato membership for the Baltic states, US renunciation of the ABM treaty, US missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic. But he waited. The trap was set in […]
Here is Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mikhail Gorbachev piously enjoining people in the Caucasus to live together nicely: The roots of this tragedy lie in the decision of Georgia’s separatist leaders in 1991 to abolish South Ossetian autonomy. Each time successive Georgian leaders tried to impose their will by force […]
Welcome Instapundit readers. While we Crawfs have been travelling the Georgia story has moved on, to the point where French President Sarkozy has been helping broker some sort of truce and possible peace plan. No end of commentaries too, of course, many dwelling on what this episode tells us […]
Richard Beeston and Edward Lucas both know what they’re talking about on Georgia. Both wonder if Georgian impulsiveness is not going to backfire. Lucas: It seems Russia is ready to hit back hard, in the hope of squashing the West’s pestilential protégé. In short, it looks more and more as […]
President Medvedev said Russia’s military aim was to force the Georgians to stop fighting: "Our peacekeepers and the units attached to them are currently carrying out an operation to force the Georgian side to [agree to] peace".
For those of you with weak memories, here is Arthur Scargill, defiant miners’ leader who crashed to defeat against Margaret Thatcher. He is still whirring away with the Socialist Labour Party, a lumpen Marxist phenomenon of no consequence. But as if for old times’ sake, here he is in the Guardian […]
