Georgia on your mind?
If you're not quite sure what's going on in Georgia -- former Soviet republic, now wants to join NATO, accuses Moscow of backing separatists in Abhkazia and South Ossetia -- you could do a lot worse than read this fascinating piece by the FT's Gideon Rachman about the country's charismatic pro-Western president, Mikheil Saakashvili.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~52~RS~)
Comments
Sign in or register to comment.
The situation is complex. Russia's actions are only explainable in light of a thousand year history of being invaded again and again. Possibly the greatest movie ever made according to some experts on cinema was the epic Alexander Nevsky which depicted the battle against the Order of the Teutonic Knights fought on frozen Lake Chud near modern day St. Petersburg in the 13 century. The musical score written by Prokofiev is easily the greatest musical work ever written for cinema. Russia has therefore always regarded those nations around its borders, the near abroad as a region it needs to control. In a world where Russia could be obliterated in an hour by an attack from halfway around the world, this notion is absurd. It is also true that Russia could itself obliterate any adversary in an hour. Russia will of course never be invaded again yet the seige psychology persists. So much so that despite the fact that the US and Russia have no vital issues of mortal conflict between them, they have not figured out how to stand down thousands of nuclear weapons aimed at each other, remnants of the cold war.
As part of its efforts to control its neighbors, Russian emigrees and their Russian speaking descendants live in many of them, Ukraine and the Baltic countries for instance. Humiliated at the loss of its empire, prestige, and standing in the world in the aftermath of the cold war, some Russians apparently dream of rebuilding their empire. Perhaps President Putin is one of them. This cannot be allowed to happen but the process by which former Soviet satellites and republics are brought into a military alliance which has a mutual defense pact such as NATO is one that has to proceed cautiously. Membership in NATO is affirmation that these countries can not be dominated or ruled by Russia again but the speed at which the process occurs has to take into account the paranoia of a nation with a long history of defending its own territory from foreign invasion.
Complain about this comment
The situation in Georgia is very complex is it among the former Soviet Bloc countries....
membership should be offered to Georgia {and other soviet bloc countries} if they can prove to N.A.T.O. standards for security in the country.
Complain about this comment
View these comments in RSS