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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (39248)	8/25/2008 9:16:28 PM
From: desert dweller	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 217944

TJ,I know you don't think much of STRATFOR but for my money this article pretty well says it as it was and now is. US not considering Russia's outlook over Serbia and Kosovo break up was the turning point.The foolish Iraqi War only compounds the fact US is handcuffed to respond to Georgia thrust by Russia.And I for one am thankful,I am sweating the 4 months this Administration has left...I cringed when I read VP Cheney is going to Tblisi.Dad

To: TobagoJack who wrote (39248)	8/26/2008 3:44:09 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 217944

Russia warns Moldova against "Georgian mistake" Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:31am EDT By Denis Dyomkin SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned ex-Soviet Moldova on Monday against repeating Georgia's mistake of trying to use force to seize back control of a breakaway region. Russia sent peacekeepers to Moldova in the early 1990s to end a conflict between Chisinau and its breakaway Transdniestria region and is trying to mediate a deal between the two sides. Transdniestria, one of a number of "frozen conflicts" on the territory of the former Soviet Union, mirrored the standoff between Georgia and its rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia until they erupted in war earlier this month. Russia sent troops to Georgia to crush Tbilisi's military push into South Ossetia and Moscow says Georgia has now lost the chance of ever re-integrating the breakaway provinces. "After the Georgian leadership lost their marbles, as they say, all the problems got worse and a military conflict erupted," Medvedev told Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin. "This is a serious warning, a warning to all," he added. "And I believe we should handle other existing conflicts in this context." As the two leaders spoke in Medvedev's Black Sea residence in Sochi, Russian lawmakers were voting non-binding resolutions urging the Kremlin to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. That would be a nightmare scenario for Moldova which fears Russia could recognize Transdniestria, a pro-Moscow region in Moldova. Medvedev, keen to limit diplomatic damage caused by the Russian operation in Georgia, made clear Moldova had no reason to worry for now. "We have agreed ... to meet and discuss the Transdniestria settlement," he told Voronin. "I think there is a good reason to do this today. I see good prospects of reaching a settlement." Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova later told reporters the two leaders had agreed to hold a fresh round of talks on Transdniestria soon. "Russia is ready to continue its efforts towards finally solving the Transdniestrian crisis," she told reporters. Russia is currently trying to forge a deal between Chisinau and Transdniestrian separatists which would keep the rebel region as part of Moldova but give it broad autonomy. The Russian-brokered deal would also allow Transdniestria to leave Moldova should the former Soviet state decide to join their ethnic kin in EU member Romania. Several years ago, Moldova rejected a similar deal under a strong pressure from NATO. But now Voronin appears to treat the Russian mediation more favorably. The Moldovan leader told Medvedev he had indeed learned the lesson: "Thank God, during all these years...we had enough brains and reserve not to allow a similar deterioration of situation." "Frozen conflicts are a real volcano which can blow up anytime," Voronin added. "That is why taking into account what had happened elsewhere it would be useful if we exercised again such wisdom not to allow such things to repeat in our country." (Writing by Oleg Shchedrov; Editing by Jon Boyle)

To: TobagoJack who wrote (39248)	8/26/2008 4:03:47 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 217944

Friedman is completely disconnected from reality on the ground by ignoring the actual dynamics in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The Kosovo war directly effected the fall of Yeltsin and the rise of Vladimir Putin. The faction around Putin saw Yeltsin as an incompetent bungler who allowed Russia to be doubly betrayed. The Russian perception of the war directly led to the massive reversal in Russian policy we see today. The installation of Putin and Russian nationalists from the former KGB had a number of roots. But fundamentally it was rooted in the events in Kosovo. Most of all it was driven by the perception that NATO had now shifted from being a military alliance to seeing itself as a substitute for the United Nations, arbitrating regional politics. Russia had no vote or say in NATO decisions, so NATOâ€™s new role was seen as a direct challenge to Russian interests. For example he ignores the demand of Romania to its territory invaded by Russia (Bukovina and Bassarabia) and later allocated to Ukraine and establishment of Moldova and the settlement of Transnistria with Russians - similar situation with Slovakia Hungary and mostly Poland. Only wonder how clueless people get so much attention. The bottom line Russia should be dealt with the harshest means. Russia is not a world power but a remnant of a gruesome imperialistic force since Ivan the Terrible which has no place to exist in the 21st century. The fact that they have nuclear capabilities should not be a deterrent - and that brings us to N. Korea and Iran aspirations. BTW encouraged by Georgia event N. Korea now is reneging on their obligation to cease nuclear activities