Stratfor: The Real World Order
By George Friedman
On Sept. 11, 1990, U.S. President George H. W. Bush addressed Congress. He spoke in the wake of the end of Communism in Eastern Europe, the weakening of the Soviet Union, and the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein. He argued that a New World Order was emerging: “A hundred generations have searched for this elusive path to peace, while a thousand wars raged across the span of human endeavor, and today that new world is struggling to be born. A world quite different from the one we’ve known. A world where the rule of law supplants the rule of the jungle. A world in which nations recognize the shared responsibility for freedom and justice. A world where the strong respect the rights of the weak.” →
The Independent: Do not feed the bear’s paranoia
Western leaders should adapt their rhetoric to show a more thoughtful realism and understanding of Russian fears
Independent on Sunday
Sunday, 17 August 2008
New York Times: Europe Wonders if It Can Square Its Need for Russia With a Distaste for Putin
PARIS — As NATO foreign ministers gather Tuesday for an emergency meeting on the Georgian crisis, Europe is divided over how to balance its ties to Russia with concerns over the country’s new aggressiveness. →
New York Times: Europe Wonders if It Can Square Its Need for Russia With a Distaste for Putin
PARIS — As NATO foreign ministers gather Tuesday for an emergency meeting on the Georgian crisis, Europe is divided over how to balance its ties to Russia with concerns over the country’s new aggressiveness.
The European dilemma is clear, said Clifford Kupchan, a director of the Eurasia Group, a consulting firm in Washington. “How do they square their increasing energy dependence on Russia with their increasing political discomfort with Putin?” he said, referring to Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin. “It’s a very hard circle to square.”
Analitycs: TOL: When Frozen Conflicts Melt Down
Russian passports become the weapon of choice in disputed regions of the former Soviet Union?
The label “frozen conflict” as applied to the wars that accompanied the breakup of the Soviet Union implies that, some day, they may well “unfreeze.” This is what happened in Georgia. →
Новости: BBC: Райс прилетела в Тбилиси с поддержкой
This post will probably be in English soon. Now you can read it in Russian - Русский.
Digest: South Ossetia Conflict Holds Lessons for Kyiv
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS: By Steven Pifer
Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 1998-2000.
Senior Advisor, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFL-RL)
Washington, D.C., Friday, August 15, 2008
Analitycs: The New York Times: No Cold War, but Big Chill
CRAWFORD, Tex. — “The cold war is over,” President Bush declared Friday, but a new era of enmity between the United States and Russia has emerged nevertheless. It may not be as tense as the nuclear standoff with the Soviet Union, for now, but it could become as strained. →
Digest: The Wall Street Journal: We Are All Georgians. By John Mccain
For anyone who thought that stark international aggression was a thing of the past, the last week must have come as a startling wake-up call. After clashes in the Georgian region of South Ossetia, Russia invaded its neighbor, launching attacks that threaten its very existence. →
Digest: The war for Georgia: Russia, the west, the future
Ghia Nodia
The intentions behind the Russian assault on Georgia constitute a political challenge to the west and an existential one to its southern neighbour, writes the minister of education and science in the Republic of Georgia, Ghia Nodia. →