While the Democrat-led congress vacations, tensions between the U.S. and
Russia have spiked as Russia has engaged in military operations inside the
neighboring country Georgia. Many people I talk to have no idea why Russia
has taken this action, what it means to the United States, or what it
means, period.
Georgia is a small country just south of the western
region of Russia. It borders the Black Sea on the west and Ajerbaijan to
the east. Turkey and Armenia lie to its south.
As an aside, my paternal grandmother and her family left Armenia and
came to the United States of America during the early 1900s to escape
the invasion and (alleged) genocide by the Turks.
This region is no stranger to conflict. It would seen the unification of
the USSR during the 20th century was one of the most peaceful times for the
region. However, the people lacked freedom.
Since the fall of the old Soviet government, Georgia was established as
a sovereign nation independent of Russia. At first, the new government was
rife with corruption, but that began to change when Mikheil Saakashvili took office as president in early
2004. Saakashvili studied law in the United States in the 1990s and has
strived to establish a very US-like domestic policy. Since becoming
president, Georgia has risen to number 18 in term of ease of doing
business, according to the World Bank. Georgia has also been named the top
economic reformer country in the world.
Georgia's domestic policies are pretty revolutionary by US
standards. Saakashvili has implemented a low 12-percent flat tax and
frequently talks about the need for government to "get out of the
way" of business so they can operate and grow unfettered by
regulation.
Relations between Russia and Georgia have been tense over the years.
Georgia's close ties with the United States, it's petition to
be admitted as a member nation in NATO, and it's free market economy
have not sat well with Russian officials. Georgia also cooperated with
Turkey and Azerbaijan to build and operate an oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea
that would compete directly with Russian oil pipelines.
Finally, there's the issue of the South Ossetia province. This is
a province in north-central Georgia that borders Russia. The Ossetians have
expressed interest in becoming an independent breakaway state.
Saakashvili has instead granted South Ossetia full autonomy as a state
under the Georgian federal government.
Reportedly, a majority of South Ossetians hold Russian passports and
Russia has claimed one reason for their military movement into Georgia was
to protect their citizens. What isn't widely reported is that Russia
offered free passports to the people of South Ossetia.
While the situation in South Ossetia is difficult to understand, what is
clear is that Russia's move into Georgia was far more than a
"reaction" to Georgia's actions. Not only that, but
Russian military has gone much further into Georgia than just the contested
lands of South Ossetia.
What is clear is that Russia is no longer the timid, floundering
democracy it was during the 1990s. Under Vladamir Putin, Russia has amassed
large amounts of wealth and power through the oil exploration and
production. Russia is again poised to be a formidable military world
power and its alliances with China, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and
Libya paint a pretty clear picture of which side they're on relative
to the United States.
Nicolas Sarkozy of France had his own Neville Chamberlain moment last
week as he negotiated a cease-fire with Russia, but the fighting continued
and Russian military incursion further into Georgia continued after Sarkozy
returned to France with a false sense of accomplishment.
The United States has formally admonished Russia for its role in the
South Ossetian hostilities and has insisted Russian military action must
stop at once and Russian troops should leave Georgia. Secretary Of State
Condoleeze Rice personally went to the Georgian capitol of Tbilisi late
this last week to help broker a peace plan and was successful in getting
parties to sign a peace plan.
I think there are many things we can learn from what has happened in
Georgia this last week or so.
Oil is power. While one of the major issues in the 2008
US election season is oil and energy, Democrats in congress are very
reluctant to increase domestic oil exploration and/or production.
Presidential candidate Barack Obama insists alternatives to fossil fuels
are the only energy sources we should be investing in. Meanwhile, other
countries such as Russia, Venezuela, and China are growing their oil
production at record pace. As a result, these countries are collecting
large amounts of wealth and power while we here in the US watch the value
of our currency languish.
One of the concerns on the left of the oil issue is that oil drilling,
production, refinement, and consumption impact the environment negatively.
While there is little doubt that is true, I find it hard to believe Russia,
China, Venezuela, Iran, and others who would use their increased power
against the United States are currently going about their petroleum
business with an eye on environmental impact. If there is any country on
the planet that can set the standard for clean, responsible, and
environmentally sensitive exploration, production, and use of fossil fuels,
it is the United States of America. But, instead, we seem poised on tying our own hands and watching our economy crumble.
The United States is beginning to look like it's
"all talk." Georgia has committed thousands of troops
to fight alongside the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its desire to
be a NATO member country represents a great deal of where its alliances
lie. If the NATO member nation is attacked, it is expected that other
member nations of NATO would respond in kind to its aid and defense. Aside
from formally issuing a few words critical of Russia, sending some
humanitarian aid, and putting Secretary Rice on the ground in Tbilisi,
we're looking pretty impotent next to Russia's tanks, missiles,
and planes.
Russia is back. You'd better believe it.
Saakashvili said recently in an interview he believed the bombs Russia was
dropping on Georgia were meant for us. "This is for America. This is
for NATO. This is for Bush," Saakashvili said were (figuratively)
inscribed on the bombs dropped on his country.
Some critics of this theory say Saakashvili attacked South Ossetia first
and Russia just responded to protect its citizens. The shear size of their
"response" invalidates this theory. Something that big had to
have been planned weeks in advance.
What do you think?
