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Imagine if we had kicked Russia out of the G8 and broken most ties with Moscow—as the Republican nominee, John McCain, and many neoconservatives have long wanted to do. Then, when the Russians attacked Georgia, we would have had only two options—appeasement or war. ~Fareed Zakaria
This is all true enough, but Zakaria seems to miss […]
1 Comment »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy
A half-term governor has more claim to leadership and experience than does a one-third-term U.S. senator who has risen through a big-city political machine. ~Lisa Schiffren
Mind you, this comes from the same person who thought that a ten and a half-year governor of Arkansas was beyond the pale and unspeakably foul because he sometimes raised […]
4 Comments »
Filed under: politics
In one of his last AFF posts, James ponders independence for the statelets:
Indeed, recognition affords the West a powerful opportunity to explain to Russia that once you play this game, you must play it fair, i.e. both statelets must not become mere Russian garrison states. Sure, there will be bases. But we know how this […]
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Filed under: politics, foreign policy
There is a great deal of admiration for Sarah Palin among my colleagues, with the notable exception of Clark, which makes me want to ask the simple question: what has really changed since Thursday that makes the GOP ticket any more acceptable than it was last week when it was, I assume, somewhere between loathsome and horrible? […]
7 Comments »
Filed under: politics
One of the reasons why Palin’s name seems to have been kept such a closely-guarded secret in the weeks leading up to the announcement on Friday seems to be that the McCain campaign made the choice in haste and did not engage in the thorough vetting that one assumes campaigns do. That lack of preparation […]
8 Comments »
Filed under: politics
This morning I arrived in Chicago after my brief vacation back home. There is a lot that has happened in the last few days that I will be talking about before too much longer, but for now I’ll say a few things quickly. I should say that my initial reaction to the choice of Sarah […]
20 Comments »
Filed under: politics
There are any number of theories offered for the tightness. One is that Obama is too temperamentally aloof for most Americans. ~Andrew Sullivan
The word choice here caught my attention. Over the last few months, I have noticed ”aloof” being used more and more often to describe Obama. This jumps out at me because I remember using it back in […]
4 Comments »
Filed under: politics
Why won’t America and Nato help us? If they won’t help us now, why did we help them in Iraq? ~Djimali Avago (quoted in article)
Along with the Ossetian refugees who have fled into North Ossetia, the Georgian people are already suffering the consequences of their government’s criminal irresponsibility, and they are understandably bitter towards the West on account […]
21 Comments »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy
Without wanting to dwell too much on Roger Kimball’s response to the war in Georgia, his new post concerning the candidates’ reactions prompted two reactions. When I saw the headline, “The crisis in Georgia, 9/11, and the lessons of gratitude,” a strange thought flashed through my mind: “Maybe he’ll thank Putin for the help he provided us […]
6 Comments »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy
McCain, though, went with his instinct and with a sense of moral clarity that seems to have been borne out by Russia’s widening campaign. ~Ben Smith
So now McCain is trying to claim that he foresaw what Russia is currently doing in Georgia, when the only reason McCain “knew” what Russia would do is that he […]
2 Comments »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy
Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s President, might have been profoundly unwise to employ massive force against the pro-Russian separatists in South Ossetia last Thursday, but his poor judgement is not the point. The commanders of Russian forces and their political masters in the Kremlin hoped he would behave exactly as he did. ~James Sherr
So when one side […]
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Filed under: politics, foreign policy
What we’ll think of is the country of Georgia and we’ll realize that August 8 was the date when Russia began reassembling the former Soviet empire in earnest. ~Roger Kimball
Via Tom Piatak
Yes, just as Iran is poised to revive the Achaemenid Empire! It’s not just that I find the charges of Russian imperialism a bit […]
11 Comments »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy
Charles Ganske has an interesting post about the war and the overheated anti-Russian reactions in the English-language media, echoing my complaints about predictable Western commentary on Russia:
CNN briefly portrayed Russia as the big red USSR while showing Americans where South Ossetia and Georgia are on the world map. Hugh Hewitt, one of the most popular […]
3 Comments »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy
One United Nations diplomat joked on Saturday that “if someone went to the Russians and said, ‘OK, Kosovo for Iran,’ we’d have a deal.”
That might be hyperbole, but there is a growing feeling among some officials in the Bush administration that perhaps the United States cannot have it all, and may have to choose its […]
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Filed under: politics, foreign policy
The Bolshevik government signed a treaty respecting Georgia’s independence — which Europe, as President Saakashvili pointedly reminded me, naïvely insisted on taking at face value. By the time the Europeans woke up to reality, it was too late. ~James Traub
Of course, the Europeans of the late 1910s and early 1920s may have had just a […]
6 Comments »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy
John Cole cuts through the superficial Politico coverage of the candidates’ responses to the war in Georgia and comes to the right conclusion:
So, in what the Politico calls a 3 am test, John McCain responds belligerently towards Russia, and were he President there is no doubt it would exacerbate the situation, and it turns out that his top […]
5 Comments »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy
Now for something completely different.
If Joe Lieberman is named McCain’s running mate, what else will happen? James has a vision:
Paleocons will set fire to their TVs, AIPAC will commission an aircraft carrier, and a Day of Mourning will be proclaimed in Damascus; Putin will quietly switch places with Daniel Craig, and Reason magazine will announce the […]
1 Comment »
Filed under: miscellaneous
Paradoxically, standing up to Moscow is not only the right thing to do in this crisis, but the best way to improve relations with Russia in the long term. For only a Russia that abandons its imperial agenda and respects its neighbors, irrespective of size, can be a true partner for the west. ~Svante Cornell
This […]
9 Comments »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy
It didn’t take long for the defenders of Saakashvili to swing into action. Edward Lucas in the Times offers the “at least he’s not absolutely horrible” defense:
A crackdown on the Opposition in November, bullying of the media and instances of abuse of power among senior officials have allowed detractors to draw uncomfortable parallels between Georgia and […]
4 Comments »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy
According to this, based on a RIA Novosti report, Abkhazia has entered the fray in the Kodori Gorge area, which is at the old cease-fire line and was the site of the last flare-up of Georgian-Abkhaz tensions two years ago. The AP confirms Abkhaz involvement. Foreign Policy’s blog reports the comments that the Abkhaz foreign minister made to Der Spiegel. […]
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Filed under: politics, foreign policy
The prime minister needs to hear that using Ossetia as a pretext for imperialism [bold mine-DL] will have consequences for Russia’s relationship with the West. ~The Wall Street Journal
Goodness knows the WSJ is against pretexts for imperialism. Ahem. I find this use of “imperialism” quite annoying, even if it is typical for their editors. When Russia supports […]
No Comments »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy
No international crisis would be complete without a hectoring Post editorial calling on Washington to meddle, including this priceless line:
The principles at stake, including sovereignty and territorial integrity, apply well beyond the Caucasus.
Ah, yes, now the Post is deeply concerned about high principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. They didn’t apply to Iraq in the ’90s, […]
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Filed under: politics, foreign policy
Mr Saakashvili, who took office in 2004 promising to restore Georgian rule over South Ossetia, appeared to have misjudged Moscow’s resolve, perhaps calculating that Vladimir Putin would not dare to respond militarily while he was in Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. ~The Times
The situation in Georgia is tragic and terrible, and […]
5 Comments »
Filed under: politics, foreign policy, Russia
So much for light blogging. The conflict between Russia and Georgia is a very important topic, and I want to say a few more things about it. I have some thoughts on what Orthodox Christians here, in Europe and around the world ought to try to do to alleviate the suffering of our brethren in Ossetia, Georgia and Russia, […]
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Filed under: politics, foreign policy, Orthodoxy, Russia
It is particularly annoying when someone who is as knowledgeable about Russia as Anne Applebaum undoubtedly is resorts to the crudest, most inaccurate generalizations:
Russia, by contrast, is an unpredictable power, which makes a response more difficult. In fact, Russian politics have now become so utterly opaque that it is not easy to say why this particular “frozen” […]
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Filed under: politics, foreign policy, Russia