More on Russia...

The Death of 1989

Interesting article dealing primarily with the Russian psyche. An excerpt:

And yet, their fear is entirely doctrinal--which is to say, imaginary. Russia's situation is not, in fact, like Israel's. No foreign power since the end of the Cold War has entertained a plan of attacking Russia or destroying Russia's power and wealth. The Russian fear rests merely on a somewhat paranoid interpretation of world events. Fears based on paranoid interpretations cannot be assuaged.

The Kosovo Card

Ruth Wedgwood, a professor at The Johns Hopkins SAIS, does a good job analyzing the Russian attempt to make Georgia and Abkhazia into an issue of self-determination and democracy. Here is an excerpt:

"Can the Ossetians and the Abkhaz--and do they want to--be a part of Georgia?" And with style sovietique, Medvedev graciously adds, "This question should be put to them and they will give their own, unambiguous answer..."

This is a vulgar attempt to misuse the Kosovo card. The Kremlin view seems to be cold-blooded theory of imperium--if the Europeans and the Americans can take Kosovo from Serbia, Russia can take South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia.

But, ethically and legally, this is a false analogy. Georgia has not invaded independent neighbors, as Serbia did. Georgia has not mimicked Slobodan Milosevic's attempt to systematically repress a minority population. Georgia was admitted to the United Nations in 1992 as a newly sovereign state, with borders that embraced both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The U.N. charter plainly states that the territorial integrity of each member state should be respected. The right of "self-determination of peoples" mentioned in the U.N. charter is far from a unilateral right to secession. Rather, in modern international law, absent extraordinary circumstances such as genocide, self-determination is taken to be the right to enjoy the preservation of culture and language within another country.

The practical solution to an irreducible clash of cultures may be autonomy. But it does not include ripping strategic territory away from a democratic state by the local vote of dissidents. Most certainly, self-determination does not mean the "right" to be forced to join the Russia Federation. 90,000 ethnic Abkhaz and 70,000 South Ossetians are not in a position to form viable states, only client states. Moscow may try to use the figleaf of faux democracy, suggesting that there should a referendum on the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. If the votes are counted by Russia, don't be surprised to see a Central Asian style tally of 99.5 percent victory.

Russia 'ready to sell Syria arms'

"I want to voice support for Russia over the situation around Abkhazia and South Ossetia... We understand the essence of the Russian position and consider its military reaction a response to provocation by the Georgian side," said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.