TWeeD ([info]densaer) wrote,
@ 2008-08-20 08:58:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Cartoon.

Economist, 8/14/08

(Post a new comment)


[info]banacheq
2008-08-20 04:56 pm UTC (link)
Even Poland is feeling it. They signed a deal with us to install a bunch of anti-ballistic-missile sites last Monday, thanks to Russia's little excursion into Georgia.

AFAIK, Georgia and Ukraine have both been playing nice and did all the right things to cozy up to NATO, but now that push comes to shove... Well it bugs me that it appears that NATO and the UN are just kinda standing by watching.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]densaer
2008-08-20 11:12 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, but neither country was a member of the Alliance, and neither could reasonably expect Article 5 protections. I hate bullies as much as the next guy but if Georgia's leadership is surprised by the response, I don't think they were paying attention.

"I want a commitment. Eh, we'll think about it"

is different than

"You're a member of the club. Your enemies are our enemies now."

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]grahamwest
2008-08-20 06:03 pm UTC (link)
Putin is banking that the west is not willing to launch a full-scale shooting war over Georgia and Ukraine and he's almost certainly right. I think things could get very close to a full confrontation and thus let him get away with a lot, but the stakes are simply too high for the western powers to engage Russia head on.

The beginning of Threads shows one way these things can lead up although that uses a middle east proxy rather than a European one (since that was made before the iron curtain fell).

(Reply to this)

nato
[info]wwwlandedru
2008-08-21 11:11 am UTC (link)
I have never met even one who wanted participation ....

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: nato
[info]densaer
2008-08-21 05:01 pm UTC (link)
Participation in what? One Russian who didn't want Georgian or Ukrainian participation? I guess that's understandable.

I guess it depends on how you're looking at the situation. I suspect Russia wants to reassert its traditional role in the region, and sees an encroaching European alliance as a threat on its borders (there's no more Warsaw Pact to create that buffer). On the other hand, all of the former eastern bloc countries want Western guarantees and integration for their security.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…