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Bloodless Coup in Georgia? 11/22/03--Following Georgia.

 
 
Lash
 
  1  
Reply Sun 22 Oct, 2006 03:01 pm
Pooti has seemed to me to be a man increasingly pining for his former Soviet days. Sabre rattling at Georgia would appear to be step one in a succession...
0 Replies
 
nimh
 
  1  
Reply Sun 22 Oct, 2006 04:29 pm
Yep. Or step four or five, rather.
0 Replies
 
Lash
 
  1  
Reply Sun 22 Oct, 2006 04:55 pm
Yep.

If anyone cares to analyze Putin's motivations or goals re Georgia-- If you're bored and care to --I'd like to hear.

Do you think he'd use force or he'd just try to place officials? Is it the part of a re-organization? How deep in the region does the ambition run?
0 Replies
 
Madison32
 
  1  
Reply Sun 22 Oct, 2006 05:40 pm
Location

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Georgia's geography is beautiful and diverse. Travel along the coastline and witness the breathtaking beaches and barrier islands that have inspired travelers for generations. Explore the fertile soil of Middle Georgia and experience the rich history and agriculture of this land. Climb into the lush foothills and forests of Georgia's mountains and breathe the culture and beauty of the Appalachians. Whether you're all business within our city streets or all play at our outdoor retreats, Georgia delivers exactly what you need.

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Move swiftly throughout Georgia's diverse landscape with our multi-modal transportation system. Need to catch a flight overseas? No problem - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport hosts hundreds of direct flights to cities throughout the U.S. and the world. Looking for an efficient way to move cargo? We've got you covered with our convenient railways and the Port of Savannah, the fastest growing port in the nation.

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Explore the endless possibilities, and discover for yourself the many ways Georgia can help fulfill your dreams.


Georgia Resources:
View maps.
View event listings.

Related Sites:
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
Port of Savannah
0 Replies
 
Lash
 
  1  
Reply Sun 22 Oct, 2006 05:43 pm
There is a chance the first time may amuse someone.

Thereafter, the odds really plummet....
0 Replies
 
Madison32
 
  1  
Reply Sun 22 Oct, 2006 05:55 pm
Are people from the USA not allowed to comment about European Affairs?

I will follow that rule in the future, as long as there is a quid pro quo!
0 Replies
 
dyslexia
 
  1  
Reply Sun 22 Oct, 2006 06:16 pm
Madison32 wrote:
Are people from the USA not allowed to comment about European Affairs?

I will follow that rule in the future, as long as there is a quid pro quo!

On this date in 1975 : Gay sergeant challenges the Air Force

Air Force Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, is given a "general" discharge by the air force after publicly declaring his homosexuality. Matlovich, who appeared in his air force uniform on the cover of Time magazine above the headline "I AM A HOMOSEXUAL," was challenging the ban against homosexuals in the U.S. military.

In 1979, after winning a much-publicized case against the air force, his discharge was upgraded to "honorable." In 1988, Matlovich died at the age of 44 of complications from AIDS. He was buried with full military honors at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. His tombstone reads, "A gay Vietnam Veteran. When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."
0 Replies
 
Lash
 
  1  
Reply Sun 22 Oct, 2006 06:22 pm
dyslexia wrote:
Madison32 wrote:
Are people from the USA not allowed to comment about European Affairs?

I will follow that rule in the future, as long as there is a quid pro quo!

On this date in 1975 : Gay sergeant challenges the Air Force

Air Force Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, is given a "general" discharge by the air force after publicly declaring his homosexuality. Matlovich, who appeared in his air force uniform on the cover of Time magazine above the headline "I AM A HOMOSEXUAL," was challenging the ban against homosexuals in the U.S. military.

In 1979, after winning a much-publicized case against the air force, his discharge was upgraded to "honorable." In 1988, Matlovich died at the age of 44 of complications from AIDS. He was buried with full military honors at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. His tombstone reads, "A gay Vietnam Veteran. When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."


What would breakfast be without Kellogg's corn flakes? The inventor of this classic cold cereal, eaten around the world every day for nearly a century, was Will Keith Kellogg, born on April 7, 1860, in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Kellogg was educated as far as the sixth grade. He was a hard worker who, as a youth, held jobs as a stockboy and then as a traveling salesman of household brooms for his father's broom-making business. His older brother John Harvey Kellogg was a doctor, rising to the rank of physician-in-chief at a world-famous local hospital and health spa called the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Will Kellogg eventually went to work at the sanitarium alongside his brother. He began as a clerk and later became a bookkeeper and file manager.

At the sanitarium, Will became acutely interested in the world of medicine and learned a great deal from his brother, a vegetarian, about good nutrition and wholegrain foods. He began helping John conduct research and develop healthy diets for patients. He was in the process of boiling wheat in 1894 in an attempt to create an easily digestible bread substitute when he came across a discovery that would lead to Kellogg's Corn Flakes.

He had boiled some wheat with the intention of making dough with it and accidentally let it stand for several hours. The wheat became softened, tempered. He decided to put it through the regular rolling process anyway for baking. When he rolled it out, however, he noticed that the individual wheat berries in the mash would roll out into flat, wide flakes. He figured he'd bake them and see what happened. The result was a crisp, tasty, easy-to-eat cereal product. He and his brother decided to serve the flakes to patients to see what they thought.

The patients loved them - so much, in fact, that they began asking the brothers to ship packages of the flakes, which the Kelloggs called "Granose," to them after they left the sanitarium. They did so on a small scale, but meanwhile the younger Kellogg had tried the technique with corn and refined what he believed to be a superior tasting, crunchy product. In 1898 he and John started the Sanitas Food Company as a mail-order operation to develop and sell corn flakes cereal. But Will had bigger plans - to turn his corn flake business into a large-scale, international, packaged food enterprise.

In 1906, he established the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes Company -- the world's first ready-to-eat cereal company.
0 Replies
 
Madison32
 
  1  
Reply Sun 22 Oct, 2006 06:26 pm
It wasn't until 1906 that Kellogg's® Corn Flakes were made available to the general public. In 1909, the very first cereal premium was offered: The Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Booklet available with the purchase of 2 packages. The offer was available for twenty-three years!
Various pictures and people appeared on the box for many years until 1958 when CorneliusTM, that green rooster with the red comb and yellow beak made his debut. He has pretty much been a fixture on the front of the box ever since. (Occasionally he shares his space with other people and celebrities.)

CorneliusTM has been closely associated with Kellogg's® Corn Flakes and appeared in commercials from time to time (racing around the circus setting of the Huckleberry Hound Show* in the '60s when Kellogg was the sponsor). Although he rarely utters a word, CorneliusTM says plenty!! His crowing over Kellogg's® Corn Flakes gets him out of any predicament, whether he's at the library, in a snowstorm or at school.


When it comes to breakfast in the morning, Cornelius TM really rules the roost!


* Huckleberry Hound
0 Replies
 
dyslexia
 
  1  
Reply Sun 22 Oct, 2006 06:29 pm
Madison32 wrote:
It wasn't until 1906 that Kellogg's® Corn Flakes were made available to the general public. In 1909, the very first cereal premium was offered: The Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Booklet available with the purchase of 2 packages. The offer was available for twenty-three years!
Various pictures and people appeared on the box for many years until 1958 when CorneliusTM, that green rooster with the red comb and yellow beak made his debut. He has pretty much been a fixture on the front of the box ever since. (Occasionally he shares his space with other people and celebrities.)

CorneliusTM has been closely associated with Kellogg's® Corn Flakes and appeared in commercials from time to time (racing around the circus setting of the Huckleberry Hound Show* in the '60s when Kellogg was the sponsor). Although he rarely utters a word, CorneliusTM says plenty!! His crowing over Kellogg's® Corn Flakes gets him out of any predicament, whether he's at the library, in a snowstorm or at school.


When it comes to breakfast in the morning, Cornelius TM really rules the roost!


* Huckleberry Hound

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law on July 26, 1990, passed the U.S. Senate with only six nay votes and the House of Representatives with only 28. The bill had the strong support of President Bush and of Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.), then Senate Minority Leader, now Majority Leader. In the House, Rep. Newt Gingrich (R.-Ga.), the current Speaker, supported the legislation, while the current Majority Leader Richard Armey and Majority Whip Tom Delay, both Texas Republicans, opposed it.
0 Replies
 
nimh
 
  1  
Reply Sun 22 Oct, 2006 06:47 pm
People!

Dont do this.

This thread might actually be useful for someone trying to follow things re Georgia, or Googling upon it.

I recommend "The Game Nobody Understands Game" or the like.
0 Replies
 
Madison32
 
  1  
Reply Mon 23 Oct, 2006 11:39 pm
The bloodless coup in Georgia and the terrible mess in Hungary are to be blamed directly on George W. Bush as usual.

Riots mar Hungary 1956 uprising commemoration By Sandor Peto and Gergely Szakacs
Mon Oct 23, 6:33 PM ET



BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at thousands of anti-government protesters on Monday, marring commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the 1956 uprising against Soviet rule.

Police also used water cannon and some protesters lobbed stones and other missiles at them. The ambulance service said 40 people had been injured although there were no life-threatening injuries. A policeman was stabbed in the hand.

Protesters took to the streets more than a month ago following the admission by Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany in a leaked speech that he lied about the economy to win national elections in April.

As police pushed the crowd of mostly far-right protesters back toward a peaceful rally by the right of center Fidesz opposition, demonstrators seized a Soviet-era T-34 tank -- on show for the commemorations -- and drove it at police.

"The whole crowd started cheering. The police started firing teargas, then the tank stopped," Reuters cameraman Fedja Grulovic said.

Reuters reporters said police had fired hundreds of teargas rounds and used mounted police to clear protesters from the streets and paving stones had been thrown at the lines of police in riot gear.

Fidesz spokesman Tamas Deutsch-Fur complained the police had "committed brutal and inexplicable violence against peaceful people" in pushing the demonstrators into its rally and the main opposition party said one of its MPs had been injured by police.

Gyurcsany has defied calls for him to quit, and backed by his Socialists and the Free Democrat parliamentary allies won a vote of confidence to carry on with his tough economic policies.

In parliament, the prime minister said Hungarians in 1956 had no choice but to rebel and the country, which held its first free elections in 1990 and joined the European Union in 2004, was now a modern, democratic state.

"Despite the often justified disappointment and discontent, the majority of Hungarians believe that parliamentary democracy is the most suited to express people's will and to create law and give a program to a free Hungary," he said.

Gyurcsany was later whistled as he placed a white rose on a new sculpture to those who died in 1956. Some 2,600 Hungarians died battling Soviet troops, more than 200 were executed and 200,000 fled the country.

A COUNTRY DIVIDED

Even before Gyurcsany's speech was leaked on September 17, many on the right questioned whether celebrations should be led by the Socialists, heirs of the communists whose rule was cemented for 33 more years after Soviet troops put down the uprising.

"I am here because we have to fight this government, we have to destroy them," said Laszlo Toth, aged 76.

"Aged 19 I was arrested and taken to (secret police headquarters in) Andrassy Street, I confessed to everything so they would stop beating me. I am here for the younger generation," he said.

Fidesz leader Viktor Orban urged protesters to refrain from violence. He told the rally estimated by state news agency MTI at 100,000 people that the nation was facing an "illegitimate" government and demanded a referendum on its economic reforms.

When campaigning in the elections, Gyurcsany promised tax cuts. He reversed tack after he held on to power and imposed a series of tax rises and benefit cuts to rein in the budget deficit which will hit 10.1 percent of GDP this year.

"The current confusion is because of one man, who has driven the country into a political and a moral crisis by misleading the people," Orban told the rally.
0 Replies
 
nimh
 
  1  
Reply Sun 10 Dec, 2006 03:56 pm
Interesting and sad:

Abkhazia's archive: fire of war, ashes of history

openDemocracy
20 October 2006

The documented history of the cosmopolitan Black Sea territory of Abkhazia was destroyed in war on 22 October 1992. Its Greek archivist is conserving what little remains, reports Thomas de Waal.
0 Replies
 
nimh
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 04:17 pm
Casting a glance across Georgia's borders, neighbouring, oil-rich Azerbajjan appears to be turning its steering wheel more towards Turkey and the West again, away from Russia.

Azerbajjan is governed by Ilham Aliyev, who took over power from his father in what was widely reported as undemocratic elections. Despite the oil boom in Baku and the keen interest of a plethora of major powers, it has also steered a pragmatically pro-Russia course ever since the elder Aliyev, who had already ruled in Soviet times, came back to power after a short, democratic, pro-Turkish experiment in the early nineties.

If Azerbajjan follows up earlier flirtations with channeling its oil directly to Turkey and the West rather than via existing pipelines through Russia, this will also help Georgia, while it will be looked at askance by Armenia.

There was an insightful analysis of all this in ISN Security Watch a week ago:

Quote:
Azerbaijan looks westward

By Karl Rahder for ISN Security Watch (22/02/07)

The geopolitical landscape in the South Caucasus appears to be shifting in a fundamentally westward direction, a change triggered by the Russian announcement in December that Gazprom, Russia's massive state-owned energy consortium, would dramatically raise the price of natural gas exports to Azerbaijan. The shift, which is being described by analysts in Baku as a reorientation of Azerbaijan's foreign policy "towards the West" and a "unique opportunity," was spelled out in a strongly worded Wall Street Journal opinion-editorial on 19 January written by Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

In unusually frank terms, the foreign minister - known for his careful use of language - spoke of a "defining moment for Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus as a whole," and in comments aimed at Russia, complained of "market bullies" and emphasized that Azerbaijan must be guided by its national interest.

What may now be changing is President Ilham Aliyev's policy of maintaining a special relationship with Russia as he balances US and Iranian ambitions. Even his opponents often admit that Aliyev, inaugurated as Azerbaijan's president in 2003, has inherited the skills of his late father, Heydar. The elder Aliyev was a cagey politico and former KGB general who deftly balanced his country's powerful neighbors, Russia and Iran, as well as the distant US superpower, in a way that benefited Azerbaijan's national interest.

Keeping US bases out of Azerbaijan while accepting US assistance in modernizing its military; refusing to denounce Iran's nuclear program but keeping a watchful eye on Iranian influence in the region; and maintaining cordial ties with Russia have been hallmarks of Ilham Aliyev's foreign policy.

But the Russian announcement that it would more than double the price of natural gas to Azerbaijan was interpreted as "more than just a market message" by the foreign minister, who reminded readers of similar actions by Gazprom in Ukraine last year, as well as in Georgia and Belarus.

"In response," he wrote, "we have decided to stop buying Russian gas as well as to stop using the Russian pipeline to export Azerbaijani oil to Europe"- an apparent reference to the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline that has been utilized for many years. The timing of Gazprom's - and Russian President Vladimir Putin's - actions has not been clearly explained, although it is widely assumed in Baku that the origins stem from the breakdown in relations between Russia and its South Caucasus neighbor Georgia.

The Georgian genesis

While Russia is rarely accused of subtlety in its foreign policy, the Georgians cast subtlety aside when they arrested four Russian military officers and 10 Georgians on charges of espionage in late September - a move that touched off a war of words with the Kremlin and led to the evacuation of Russian diplomatic personnel from Tbilisi and suspension of air service to Moscow.

This episode was the capstone to a continuing struggle with Russia over Georgia's difficulties with breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia - two pro-Russian regions nominally a part of Georgia where Russian peacekeeping troops operate. It is a continuing reminder that Georgia is militarily weak and has limited room for maneuver, even when its own territorial integrity is involved. In November, the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia held elections in which Eduard Kokoity, the de facto president, won a landslide victory. A simultaneous referendum for independence garnered similar results, although neither the referendum nor the presidential vote has been recognized by the international community. In December, non-binding measures in Russia's lower house of parliament - the State Duma - called for recognition of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The measures passed unanimously.

The spy scandal and the South Ossetian vote were preceded in March by Russia's ban on Georgian wine and spring water imports, major sources of export revenue in Georgia, as well as the cutoff of gas deliveries to Georgia after a pipeline explosion in January - an event that Russia insisted was beyond its control, but that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili charged was an act of "serious sabotage from the side of the Russian Federation."

South Caucasus analysts almost unanimously agree that the real reason for the sanctions, if not the explosion, has been Georgia's embrace of EU and NATO integration, in part to counteract continuing Russian military influence in the two breakaway regions.

Amid the unraveling of relations between Russia and Georgia and despite the successful color revolution in Tbilisi - which was dead on arrival in Baku in 2005 - Azerbaijan continues to integrate its economy with Georgia's and has discussed the sale of Azerbaijani natural gas to Georgia via Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea. The Shah Deniz is not yet fully developed, although the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry estimates that eventually it could produce up to 16 billion cubic meters of gas a year, although export to Georgia has been delayed in part by Azerbaijan's domestic needs now that it has refused to purchase natural gas from Gazprom.

Thus, Putin has witnessed for some time the growing ties between Azerbaijan and Georgia despite his policy of isolating Georgia and punishing it for a variety of geopolitical sins.

Gazprom's lopsided price structure is an oddity, at least on the surface, given its argument that it seeks only fair market rates for natural gas. Ukraine pays US$130 per 1,000 cubic meters, the result of intensive negotiations during the 2005 gas crisis there, and even Kremlin-friendly Belarus was recently subjected to a drastic spike in gas charges that was negotiated down to US$110 per 1,000 cubic meters at the beginning of this year. But Tbilisi has something new in common with Baku: both are being charged a crippling US$230, in line with European market prices but a hardship especially for resource-poor Georgia. Armenia's price of US$110 is also the subject of recrimination in Azerbaijan, still in a technical state of war with Armenia over separatist Nagorno-Karabakh.

The issue of Karabakh hangs like a shroud over almost any discussion of Azerbaijan's relations with its neighbors, and when Mammadyarov wrote in his article that the "frozen conflicts in the region" should be resolved "in adherence to the principle of territorial integrity of all three South Caucasus states," this was a clear message to Moscow that not only does Azerbaijan feel that Russia has given undue support to Armenia, but that Baku endorses the Georgian position on retaining sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Possible Azerbaijani retaliation

Read on...
0 Replies
 
Lash
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Aug, 2008 12:38 pm
Bump for backgrounding on current events in Georgia if anyone's interested.
0 Replies
 
ossobuco
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Aug, 2008 12:49 pm
Thanks, Lash, will reread.
0 Replies
 
old europe
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Aug, 2008 12:51 pm
Good idea. Thanks, Lash...
0 Replies
 
Lash
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Aug, 2008 12:52 pm
From nimh's EurasiaNet.org

"All-Out War Looms..."

Excerpt:

GEORGIA: ALL-OUT WAR LOOMS IN SOUTH OSSETIA
Elizabeth Owen 8/08/08

Print this article Email this article

Georgia and Russia stood at the brink of an all-out conflict August 8, after Georgian Interior Ministry units opened a campaign to retake the separatist territory of South Ossetia. Civilians were scrambling to escape the conflict zone, amid reports that Russian armor and aircraft had entered the conflict.

Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze has said that the government will continue the campaign against South Ossetian separatists until "a durable peace" can be established in the breakaway region. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Tbilisi claims that the fighting began in the early hours of August 8 after South Ossetian separatists attacked two nearby villages and peacekeeper posts, leaving several dead and wounded. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had offered a cease-fire the night before.

"To protect [the] peaceful civilian population and stop [the] military attack, [the] Government of Georgia was forced to take adequate measures," an official statement reads.

Tbilisi claims that it has largely reestablished control over the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, in addition to establishing full control over several nearby Ossetian villages. The government charges, however, that Russian planes have begun a bombing campaign in response to the fighting.

Russian planes reportedly dropped bombs on four separate locations within Georgia: the regional center of Gori, about 25 kilometers from Tskhinvali; the nearby town of Kareli; and two military air bases outside of Tbilisi (Vardziani and Marneuli). The Georgian Interior Ministry reports that three men were killed in the Marneuli attack.

Anti-aircraft artillery stands at the ready along the Georgian-controlled road heading from Gori into Tskhinvali.

Moscow has not yet confirmed the reports of bombing Georgian territory, though the Kremlin has warned that it will take all possible measures to defend the safety of its citizens within South Ossetia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Georgia of attempting to conduct "ethnic cleansing" in Ossetia.
0 Replies
 
Lash
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Aug, 2008 12:54 pm
old europe wrote:
Good idea. Thanks, Lash...

Thanks for breaking the news to this no-TV-having, recovering news junkie...
0 Replies
 
nimh
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Aug, 2008 06:52 pm
The Economist has a good article online on the current clusterf*ck. It lays down the basics in an easy to grasp, but not superficial take. The way the Economist is famed for doing so well (if it's not off on its regular ideoligical tangent preaching free market dogma).

Quote:
The Caucasus
Bang bang, who's dead?


Aug 7th 2008
From The Economist print edition

Sabre-rattling continues in a dangerous corner of Europehttp://media.economist.com/images/20080809/CEU977.gif

But the row has given Russia a chance to step up pressure on Georgia, portrayed in the Russian media as a tiresome and aggressive Western stooge. The South Ossetian leader, Eduard Kokoity, said that he would force Georgian forces out of his self-declared republic (which is a patchwork of villages and small towns, some controlled by Georgian authorities and others by separatists). He says 300 Russian irregulars have come to his aid.

The quarrel in South Ossetia follows an escalation of tension in the other breakaway region of Georgia, Abkhazia. Russia has reinforced its military presence there, which is nominally part of a UN-monitored peacekeeping effort. A German-drafted peace plan for the economic revival of Abkhazia, indefinite autonomy and the return of Georgian refugees has so far stalled. The Abkhaz authorities are uneasy about the Russian embrace, but fear the return of ethnic Georgian refugees, once the largest ethnic group in the region.

The Kremlin's immediate aim seems to be to force Georgia to return to the Joint Control Commission in South Ossetia. This body comprises Georgia, Russia, South Ossetia and the Russian republic of North Ossetia, just across the border, with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), a Vienna-based multilateral body, as an observer. Georgia thinks that this is intolerably unbalanced and has walked out.

Russia also wants Georgia to give a formal guarantee that it will not use force in either breakaway region. Georgia thinks that unless its refugees can return this would amount to de facto recognition of the secessionists. It wants a stronger OSCE presence, demilitarisation, and international (not Russian) peacekeepers. It also wants joint Georgian-Russian control of the Roki tunnel under the Caucasus mountains. This, Georgia says, is used both for smuggling and for illegal reinforcements to South Ossetia.

Russia's broader aim may be to try to roll back the advance of pro-Western forces in its "near abroad" by highlighting the West's inability to help Georgia. The hotting up of Georgia's conflicts coincided with Kosovo's declaration of independence, recognised by much of the West, and American pressure for the expansion of NATO to Georgia and Ukraine.

That move has been stymied, mainly by Germany; Georgia was promised eventual NATO membership but no firm plan. Though Georgia has become a vital corridor for oil and gas exports to Europe, this has not brought the support that its leaders had expected. A lame-duck American administration has been able to do little, though Georgians hope a presidential-election victory by John McCain, an ardent supporter, may change their fortunes. The country's strong-willed and idiosyncratic president, Mikheil Saakashvili, is not seen by all European leaders as quite the paragon of legality, freedom and reform that he claims to be. Georgia's image was severely dented in November last year by a crackdown against the opposition.

Georgia is in a quandary: its Western friends tell it to stay calm yet seem unable to stop Russian bullying. It is all too easy to imagine misjudgements on either side leading to a real war. Georgian officials will spend August nervously at their desks. Some of their European counterparts may have other plans. As the recipients of an often daily blizzard of alarms and appeals from Georgia, they think that a summer break might be just the ticket.
0 Replies
 
 

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