Monday, August 11, 2008

Russia Fires Off a Message

In the WPR, here
"....the message fired off by the relentless Russian onslaught is as clearly discernible as the blast of a cannon: The territories of the former Soviet Union will answer to Moscow -- whether they want to or not.
That smoldering salvo has its intended audience, more than anywhere else, in those former Soviet territories: in lands that include Georgia, of course, but also other former Soviet republics than have worked to moved away from Moscow's influence. The message is meant to be heard in places such as Ukraine, and maybe -- just maybe -- as far as the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, which once saw their independence bartered away to Moscow but have now managed to achieve their dream of rejoining Europe by gaining entrance in the European Union. The fiery message also has an intended audience in the West, where Europe and the United States have been trying to figure out what to make of the newly invigorated Russia, and how to respond to overtures from the likes of the Republic of Georgia, pleading for entrance into NATO and the EU...."

No comments: