Monday, 03.10.08
Putin's Near Abroad
Photo by flickr user Lev Yakupov under a Creative Commons license
Uranium on the loose
March 2008
Where Europe vanishes
November 2000
Robert D. Kaplan examines the newly-independent Republic of Georgia.
Vladimir Putin is picking up where another Vladimir left off eighty years ago. After the Great War, Lenin (and later Stalin) worked to reconstitute Russia's empire in the Caucasus, which had been steadily weakened by the presence of the British, particularly around the oil-rich territory of Baku. Today the Caucasus is again in disarray and revolt against Moscow, and the firm hand of the president is exerting its discipline. Abkhazia is a site of that discipline.
Putin took power in a moment of chaos for Russia and its near-abroad. Azerbaijan and the Republic of Georgia had risen up against Moscow, and the West saw their potential as transit points for pipelines. Now, NATO's territory is spreading inexorably across Europe, almost as far east as Georgia, and Putin is trying to stave off Western influence and reassert control, just as Lenin did. Serbia, one of Russia's few remaining footholds, just lost Kosovo over Russia's protests. The more Putin strengthens Abkhazia, the enemy of a weak central government in Tbilisi, the more Georgia will need to treat Moscow, rather than Washington or Brussels, as its most vital partner.
We've got next!Foreign Policy's Joshua Keating offers a how-to guide on starting your own country. |
The year aheadAlexander Zaitchik, editor of The Exile, explores likely conflicts between Russia and the west in 2008. |
What's good for the goose...Russian journalist Yulia Latynina finds the rationales -- and implications -- of independence for Abkhazia and Kosovo largely analogous. |
Breakaway stateShaun Walker, reporting for Monocle, files an audio slideshow from Abkhazia in September 2007. |
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Dear author 'forgot' to mention that in reality the revolt was by Abkhasians and against Georgia - and happened in 1991 immediately after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. These are nuances... that speak volumes of his objectivity. Bwt, Stalin ( ethnic Georgean) enforced Abkhasia inclusion into Georgia proper in 1921, and the peoples of Abkhasia were never asked if they belonged there. In fact historically Abkhasia VOLUNTARILY joined with Russian Empire to escape Turkish and Persian influence. But of course it is always about Britts vs Russians for some. Like other regional Caucasian powers never existed!
Posted by dorotea | March 11, 2008 2:04 PM