Russia
-
Crisis Chronicle: U.S. pulls the plug on the world
The U.S. administration has prompted a huge surge in the U.S. dollar, which may help refinance its financial sector. The cost is a currency whirlwind that threatens the collapse not just of banks and companies but entire countries. In the past week the financial crisis, which began in banking and spread to stocks, has careered… Continue reading
-
Aurobinda MAHAPATRA (India) The World Order on Anvil
“Any future configuration of world order may not be feasible without Russia at one centre. Besides Russia, the US, India, China, Japan, the EU would be definitely the other poles. In fact, the developments in trans-Caucasus in particular and in Central Eurasia in general may serve as a prelude to the coming of a new… Continue reading
-
Eric Walberg : The quiet Russian
Kosovo is the poorest country in Europe, notorious for drug, arms and human smuggling, and with an unemployment rate of 40 per cent. Kosovo authorities have no control over about 15 per cent of its territory where about 200,000 Serbs live. Local Serbs in those areas recognise only the Serbian government, despite opposition from Kosovo’s… Continue reading
-
Immanuel Wallerstein, “The New World Geopolitical Order: End of Act I”
I call this the end of Act I because it has sealed the reality of a true multilateral geopolitical arena. Of course, there are still further acts to come. And any faithful playgoer know that Act I merely establishes who are the actors. It is in Act II that we see what really happens. And… Continue reading
-
Russia And The Next Phase Of Nuclear Doctrine Part One By Nikita Petrov
‘We don’t see any threats to Russia coming from Poland,’ he said at a news conference after his talks with Sikorski. ‘But we cannot ignore the fact that an inalienable element of the U.S. strategic systems will be deployed close to our border. – Lavrov Continue reading
-
‘Ex-Georgian Defense Minister Blames Saakashvili for War With Russia in Russified South Ossetia'
It now appears very certain that Georgian President Saakashvili had long planned a military strike against the Russian Autonomous Regions to seize back the breakaway territory starting with South Ossetia, but executed it very poorly. Continue reading
-
Georgia: The West's Phantom Pains By Elena Ponomareva
The EU politicians with their unsophisticated vision seem unable even to identify – least to condemn – the actual aggressor. They cannot admit that the mad Tbilisi ruler who has sent Georgia’s NATO-sponsored army to South Ossetia and thus inflicted unprecedented disgrace on his country is in fact their creature. Continue reading
-
Georgia: The War Which Will Help McCain Win By Yuri Baranchik
Strategic Culture Foundation Georgia has done a great job as the proving ground during the five-day war. With the help of this war, those who are promoting the Republican nominee in the US presidential race have found out all they needed to know. It was a part of Washington’s plan that Russia would respond resolutely… Continue reading
-
Caucasus: Media Guilty as `Fog of War` Clears
“The screen reports were transmitting pictures of cluster bombs being used and indiscriminate shelling. The anchors described it as Russia’s shelling of Georgia. It was a pile of lies, distortions and propaganda of the event that happened in Georgia. The foreign press believed what the Georgian officials told them and it looked like the world… Continue reading
-
FT.com / World – US military trained Georgian commandos
The revelation, based on recruitment documents and interviews with US military trainers obtained by the Financial Times, could add fuel to accusations by Vladimir Putin, Russian prime minister, last month that the US had ‘orchestrated’ the war in the Georgian enclave. Continue reading
-
Let's talk about World War III by Nikolai Sokov
If we can safely live through the transition period as economic and eventually political power shifts from traditional capitals toward Asia, we might avoid a direct clash between major powers and nuclear weapons use. The way economic trends run these days, we only need to be lucky for a few years. Continue reading
-
New York Times’ Roger Cohen on Georgian crisis: A case of deliberate deception By Alex Lantier
The New York Times, among the most prominent organs of American liberalism, has played a critical role in legitimizing the US government’s position. Its September 1 column by ‘International Writer-at-Large’ Roger Cohen, headlined ‘NATO’s Disastrous Georgian Fudge,’ is an example of the Times’ deliberate campaign of disinformation on the Georgian crisis. Continue reading
-
New York Times’ Roger Cohen on Georgian crisis: A case of deliberate deception By Alex Lantier
The New York Times, among the most prominent organs of American liberalism, has played a critical role in legitimizing the US government’s position. Its September 1 column by ‘International Writer-at-Large’ Roger Cohen, headlined ‘NATO’s Disastrous Georgian Fudge,’ is an example of the Times’ deliberate campaign of disinformation on the Georgian crisis. Continue reading
-
The Anti-Empire Report by William Blum Read this or George W. Bush will be president the rest of your life
The Democrats should run on the slogan “If you liked Bush, you’ll love McCain”, but that would be too outspoken, too direct for the spineless Nancy Pelosi and her spineless party. Or, “If you liked Iraq, you’ll love Iran.” But the Democrat leadership is not on record as categorically opposing either conflict. Continue reading
-
Interview with Russian President Medvedev On Euronews
I think the results are two-fold in nature. First of all, they show that Russia’s motivations in deciding to respond to Georgia’s aggression and recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent subjects of international law have unfortunately not been fully understood. This is sad but not fatal, because everything can change in this world. Continue reading
-
MEDIA LENS ALERT: WHEN NEWS IS NOISE – GEORGIA, SOUTH OSSETIA AND THE POLITICAL PIPELINE
The bias is clear, but the deeper point is far more interesting – the entrenched propaganda function of the mainstream media renders it incapable of making sense of events in Georgia and South Ossetia. References to Russian self-interest are allowed, and to Western concerns about energy security. But on the real reasons why people were… Continue reading
-
Crisis in the Caucasus – Russian Perspectives
I didn’t want to post each article, rather, I’ve supplied links instead to what I regard as informative analysis and for a change, from a Russian perspective on the upheavals since Georgia’s insane attack on South Ossetia. 2008-09-05 Pyotr ISKENDEROV The Serbian Front in the War Over the Caucasus “At the moment, we are witnessing… Continue reading
-
Blame Capitalism, Not Medvedev By Boris Kagarlitsky
In order to understand what is happening, we must take a step back from the situation in the Caucasus and even from current U.S.-Russian relations. We are now witnessing the crisis in the global economic system. Continue reading
-
The west is strategically wrong on Georgia By Kishore Mahbubani
In Georgia, Russia has loudly declared that it will no longer capitulate to the west. After two decades of humiliation Russia has decided to snap back. Before long, other forces will do the same. As a result of its overwhelming power, the west has intruded into the geopolitical spaces of other dormant countries. They are… Continue reading
-
The Medvedev Doctrine and American Strategy By George Friedman
If a U.S. settlement with Iran is impossible, and a diplomatic solution with the Russians that would keep them from taking a hegemonic position in the former Soviet Union cannot be reached, then the United States must consider rapidly abandoning its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and redeploying its forces to block Russian expansion. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 