A Taste of Sochi

When in Rome, eat as the Romans eat!  When in Sochi, check out the local dishes. Georgian-style dumplings with beef and lamb filling? YES, PLEASE.  I might try making these soon as a massive snowstorm rolls over the entire Eastern seaboard and I won't want to go outside!

Friday Fun Video: Welcoming the Freshmen to Georgia Tech

The entire speech by sophomore Nick Selby is here, but this is the absolute highlight:

 

"You're at Georgia Tech!  You can do that!"

PS: Don't miss the Nerd Lord sitting in the top right corner.  Watch him crack up.

Mandatory Mandarin Lessons in Georgia Public Schools?

What?  As usual, my objection is to the "mandatory."  Something else: it's involved with funding from the Chinese government.  Hmmmm.

Lights! Camera! The Georgian Army!

Interesting!  The bit about Mikheil Saakashvili is kind of neat.  Whom would you get to play you in a movie?

LOL Nerd News: The "Grad Men" Campaign

Some enterprising students from Atlanta have mounted a campaign to get Don Draper of "Mad Men" as their Commencement speaker.  No, they don't want Jon Hamm the actor.  They want Hamm to show up in character as that most dashingly naughty creative director of a fictional 1960s ad agency.  Come on, AMC and Jon Hamm!  This would be some truly kick@$$ PR.  Check out the official website and awesome video below.  These students get full marks for creativity, initiative, and can-do spirit!  Besides, they're taking Don's own advice.  Remember what he said in the episode "The Summer Man"?  It was this: "You want some respect?  Go out and get it for yourself."

Quirky Asia Files: Chopsticks to China

Here's a neat little tale about a Georgia company making chopsticks to send abroad because China's got a chopstick shortage.  The company also exports to Japan and Korea.  Well, whaddyaknow?  (I like bamboo chopsticks instead of wooden ones, but to each their own.) Belated link xie-xie to Sushiphagos the Progenitor of Alessandra!

Monday Therapy: The World's Largest Aquarium

Look at this gorgeous video footage from Georgia Aquarium (via Laughing Squid):

the world's largest aquarium // ATL.GA from stillmotion on Vimeo.

Latest Loony Taiwan "Analysis": Georgia=Taiwan, Saakashvili=Chen

Michael Turton disassembles this latest morass, thus saving me from doing so. Like so many other "analyses," it presents former President Chen as a dangerous troublemaker, etc. etc. That old chestnut. The latest wrinkle here is comparing Chen to Georgia's President Saakashvili -- a comparison that's not just inaccurate, but basically false and misleading.

Anyway, the article goes on to speak about current Taiwan President Ma (in favorable terms, natch!). Unfortunately for these Ma cheerleaders, Turton isn't buying it (and neither am I). Michael's comment:

. . . political change here has not enhanced stability in the Taiwan Strait . . . instead it has introduced new instabilities and uncertainties by giving China the upper hand and sacrificing the interests of US allies Japan and Taiwan, as well as introducing the new and ominously opaque uncertainty: how far is Ma willing to go? But as we all know, the greatness of a realpolitik decision is measured by the number of friends it betrays . . .

You should take a look at the actual article that has Turton in such a temper. You know, part of me is really sick and tired of reading and trying to refute/rebut the constant stream of bad "analyses" of Taiwan. But another part of me thinks, "Well, I ought to try, because otherwise I'm basically letting people get away with spouting these stupid 'analyses' and spreading misconceptions." Bleagh.

Public Service Announcement: Pat Buchanan is an Idiot

Buchanan's an idiot. The man who argued that World War II was unnecessary (!) has produced his latest bit of rubbish disguised as analysis. In it, he depicts Mussolini as a sympathetic victim, for goodness sake! The rest of it depicts Putin as victim in the current Caucasus crisis. Oh, come on!

I thought I would simply put the announcement out: Buchanan's an idiot, an isolationist, and a cantankerous dilettante of history, and he represents a part of the far Right that I find not only wrong but stupid and pernicious.

That is all.

Georgia: Is Conventional Wisdom Wrong?

Independent journalist Michael Totten is in Georgia, and he thinks that conventional wisdom is wrong about the start of the Caucasus crisis. Blurb, but read the whole thing:

Virtually everyone believes Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili foolishly provoked a Russian invasion on August 7, 2008, when he sent troops into the breakaway district of South Ossetia. “The warfare began Aug. 7 when Georgia launched a barrage targeting South Ossetia,” the Associated Press reported over the weekend in typical fashion.

Virtually everyone is wrong. Georgia didn't start it on August 7, nor on any other date. The South Ossetian militia started it on August 6 when its fighters fired on Georgian peacekeepers and Georgian villages with weapons banned by the agreement hammered out between the two sides in 1994. At the same time, the Russian military sent its invasion force bearing down on Georgia from the north side of the Caucasus Mountains on the Russian side of the border through the Roki tunnel and into Georgia. This happened before Saakashvili sent additional troops to South Ossetia and allegedly started the war.

This all certainly needs looking into.

Yushchenko: Georgia and Ukraine

The president of Ukraine has a piece in the WaPo about the stakes for his nation in the midst of the ongoing Georgia-Russia crisis.

Ukraine had been involved in a sense nearly from the beginning because of its proximity to Russian action. Oh, geography. You are the ultimate tyrant.

China-Taiwan in Light of Russia-Georgia -- Plus the US Factor

The latest Weekly Standard has an interesting look at cross-Strait relations in light of the ongoing crisis in the Caucasus. Short version: not good. Long version: read the whole thing. Blurb:

Putin's Olympics offensive has a long-term upside for Beijing: that the West dithered during the invasion of an upstart democracy must have provided comfort to those in China who want to settle the Taiwan issue by force.

The U.S. response to the invasion of Georgia was embarrassing. President Bush chose not to interrupt his Beijing itinerary of watching basketball and beach volleyball, and his administration's lackadaisical actions sent a clear message to his Chinese hosts about waning American will to stand by its allies. The initial call by both presidential candidate Barack Obama and President Bush that both aggressor and victim stand down must have been music to China's ears.

For years China has been selling the argument that Taiwan is a provocateur. Beijing argued throughout the administration of independence-leaning Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian that "separatists" in Taipei had hijacked Chinese "compatriots" on the island who really want unification with the Chinese motherland. Remove the separatists, China's rhetoric went, and Taiwan will return to the motherland--allow them to govern, and China will one day have to attack.

. . . America's tepid response to Russia's invasion of Georgia has harmed its ability to act as a global deterrent. If Washington was slow in response to Georgia, a country that it sponsored for NATO membership, whose president it feted at the White House in 2006 and that hosted President Bush in 2005 with great fanfare, Beijing must wonder if the United States would do anything for isolated Taiwan. Unlike Georgia, Taiwan is a pariah in the international community. Washington's complicity in Taiwan's isolation only tempts Chinese aggression.

I have to concur.

UPDATE: Here is another look at the Georgia-Taiwan comparison. Link xie-xie to Pursuit of Serenity. Also, a caveat overall: comparisons may be useful, but they're never prefect, so do keep in mind differences (some critical) between Georgia and Taiwan also.

Euro Notes: German Ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder Comments on Russia and Georgia

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder recently gave an interview with Der Spiegel and reminded me why I was more or less happy to say "Auf Wiedersehen, Gerhard!" when he retired in 2005.

Here is bit of it, complete with not-so-veiled hints of "It's America's fault,"a refusal to lay any responsibility at the feet of Putin's revanchist Russia, misplaced support of the Sarkozy plan that Russia's already flouted, and a belief in the EU project at any cost. Do notice that Gerhard even finds time to praise Russia for ratifying Kyoto while slamming the US for not doing the same (hey, who cares if Russia's raining disproportionate hell on Georgia? Moscow cares about carbon emissions! But wait! What's the carbon cost of invading Georgia, Gerhard?) . But all these little details are nothing compared to Schröder's real whopper of a statement at the end of the selection. Oh, dear.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Schröder, who is at fault for the Caucasus war?

Gerhard Schröder: The hostilities undoubtedly have their historic causes, as well, and the conflict has had several historic precursors. But the moment that triggered the current armed hostilities was the Georgian invasion of South Ossetia. This should not be glossed over.

SPIEGEL: You see no partial fault on Moscow's part, no lack of proportionality in the actions of the Russian military?

Schröder: That is something I cannot and do not wish to judge. But we know, of course, that military conflicts develop their own dynamics. The crucial issue now is that all parties involved will take advantage of the French president's six-point plan.

SPIEGEL: Do you believe that the American military advisors stationed in Tbilisi encouraged Georgia to launch its attack?

Schröder: I wouldn't go that far. But everyone knows that these US military advisors in Georgia exist -- a deployment that I've never considered particularly intelligent. And it would have been strange if these experts had not had any information. Either they were extremely unprofessional or they were truly fooled, which is hard to imagine.

. . .

SPIEGEL: With all due respect to cool-headed realpolitik: Don't we have to draw a red line now, one that Moscow cannot cross if it wants to continue playing a role in international institutions and as a partner of the West? Immediate withdrawal of all troops from Georgia, for example, and recognition of its territorial integrity, as US Secretary of State Rice has vehemently demanded?

Schröder: I do not believe that Russia is pursuing a policy of annexation. And I also do not believe that there can be a return to the status quo ante in South Ossetia or Abkhazia. It's out of the question. In my opinion, this has less to do with supposed Russian expansionist interests than with the wishes of the civilian population.

Does he really think that Russia's not interested in annexing South Ossetia? The Russia foreign minister has already famously declared that Georgia can forget about territorial integrity and keeping its breakway provinces. And why does dear Gerhard sound less like an impartial observer-analyst and more of an apologist for the Kremlin? *cough* Gazprom! *cough*

Meanwhile, the current German chancellor's approach to the Caucasus crisis is slightly different from Gerhard's vision.

What's In A Name? -- Georgia the US State and Georgia the Country

In case you were wondering why the American state and now-beleaguered country have the same name, here's the explanation! Kind of cool, actually. Did you know that Georgians (from the nation) don't actually call the place "Georgia"? Who knew?

Also, FYI, for the actual usage of the name "Georgia" in both cases, you can blame the Brits.

Oh, one thing more: as McCain just said, we are all Georgians. Hm, that didn't clarify matters much -- at least not on the linguistic front.

UPDATE: Since Georgia the state is in the American South, I found this really amusing: In the CIA World Factbook entry for Georgia the nation, its size is described as "slightly smaller than South Carolina."

Geek News: Georgia Under Cyber-Attack

Georgia is under cyberattack as well as traditional military assault. More here and here. Wired does have a caveat about the massive Georgian cyberwar:

As always, however, it's extremely difficult to sort out which hacks are being done with Russian government involvement, which are being done with government wink-and-a-nod, and which have nothing to do with the government whatsoever.

Nevertheless, help in various forms (the ultimate tech support) has been offered to Georgia. Estonia has sent cyber defense experts, and Georgia is now communicating to the world via new Internet portals.

~Civil.ge, a Georgian news outlet, is under permanent cyber attack, so it is now on Blogspot.

~The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs now also has a website via Blogspot.

~The website of the Georgian president has been moved to US servers in Atlanta, but it's still been targeted.

~The Polish president has also given Georgia space on his English-language website. Look at the right side of the webpage for Georgian reports. Scroll down.

~Estonia is now hosting the website of the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It's a war with 21st-century tech used for an old-school military geopolitical approach.

In the interest of being fair (though I am no fan of Putin's Russia), here is the Kremlin's website.

UPDATE: An Aussie source reports that at one point, the Georgian parliament site was hacked. Its front page was replaced with an image comparing Saakashvili to Hitler. *Sigh.*

2 Perspectives: Comments on the Caucasus by Saakashvili and Gorbachev

Let's look at perspectives on the crisis in Georgia from Georgian president Saakashvili and the last leader of the USSR, Gorbachev.

Kagan on Georgia and Russia: the 19th Century Is Back

As Russian troops enter Georgia proper, Putin's mask slips and Robert Kagan points this out in new article in the WaPo:

Historians will come to view Aug. 8, 2008, as a turning point no less significant than Nov. 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell. Russia's attack on sovereign Georgian territory marked the official return of history, indeed to an almost 19th-century style of great-power competition, complete with virulent nationalisms, battles for resources, struggles over spheres of influence and territory, and even -- though it shocks our 21st-century sensibilities -- the use of military power to obtain geopolitical objectives. Yes, we will continue to have globalization, economic interdependence, the European Union and other efforts to build a more perfect international order. But these will compete with and at times be overwhelmed by the harsh realities of international life that have endured since time immemorial.

In some ways, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Fukuyama's "end of history" thesis has long been exploded.

Nerd Analysis: Georgia, South Ossetia, and Kosovo

Marko Hoare, an expert in southeast Europe, takes a look at South Ossetia and Kosovo. The two, he says, are actually quite different, despite the current spate of comparisons between the two.

Hoare also has this excellent quote from another post:

The ‘independence’ of this tiny region means, effectively, its annexation by Russia - which is, in effect, a process that is underway, and which the desperate Georgian offensive is attempting to halt. I have already explained at length why South Ossetia is in no way equivalent to Kosova, either in terms of its constitutional or legal status, or in terms of its actual credentials as a ‘nation’. ‘Self-determination’ does not mean the right of a former colonial power - in this case Russia - to annex enclaves in its former colonies.

Caucasus Chaos: Link Roundup -- Plus Ukraine

The current crisis (crisis? nay, flat-out shooting war) in the Caucasus has escalated. And it's expanding. The fighting has spread to Abkhazia, Georgia's other breakaway province. Meanwhile, Ukraine is now involved, stating it will bar the Russian navy from returning to their Crimea base.

I previously mentioned the Caucasus hostilities here. There's too much for me to cover right now, so I give you a selection of links (two of which were kindly sent to me by blogfriend Pursuit of Serenity):

~Given the history between Georgia and Russia, was this crisis bound to happen? Or, as this columnist says, "absurdly over-determined"? The whole piece is an interesting read.

~Military analyst Ralph Peters is angry -- and pro-Georgia. So is Blackfive, remembering the 1921 Russian invasion of Georgia.

~The Volokh Conspiracy has a pithy analysis that I quote:

. . . I think it's unlikely that Russia's role here is entirely benign, given the longstanding history of Russian imperialism in the region, Russia's recent aggressive policy towards its neighbors under Vladimir Putin, and Georgia's role as a recently democratized state and ally of the US that Russian leaders fear as a potential catalyst for pro-democracy movements within Russia itself. At the same time, it was probably unwise of Saakashvili to launch a large-scale offensive in South Ossetia that he should have realized could lead to war with a much more powerful state . . .

~The Washington Post has a good op-ed.

~Russian troops closing in on Georgia proper, not only South Ossetia?

~BBC reports that Georgia has called for a ceasefire. Russian troops seem to have taken South Ossetia. Still, in the chaos of everything, initial reports by everybody seem uncertain at best.

~Some outlets of Russian media are in full propaganda mode, according to some sources. Glance at this story from Pravda. Or this one insisting that it's all the fault of the US! Good grief. (Pravda links via Powerline because I don't usually read Pravda! If I want shameless self-aggrandizing propaganda, I'll read my undergrad school's alumni magazine, thanks.)

~Meanwhile, Russia accuses Western media of pro-Georgia bias.

~Massive gateway to media sources on Russia.

~Foreign nationals are leaving Georgia. Italy has been evacuating its nationals, and the Canadian and British governments are among those urging its citizens to leave.

~Remember the phrase "disproportionate force" from the Israel-Hezbollah war? That phrase is back; this time it's being used against Russia.

~Hey, where's the outrage? Where are the Western-leftist pro-peace demonstrations a la Bush/Iraq? Where are the "Borscht Not Bombs" and "No War for Oil Pipelines" signs for Putin's Russia? UPDATE: Wait! 100 Poles protested outside the Russian embassy in Warsaw. It looked like a sober protest by actual concerned people, not a carnival of far-leftist flaky goofiness, if the news photo says anything.

~Nations who knew the Soviet era all too well declare solidarity with Georgia. A joint statement has been issued by the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Read those names again. I guess these folks know a thing or two about Russian aggression/overlordship? Just thinking out loud. Oh, and Lithuania has sent its foreign minister to Georgia.

~The US begins transporting 2000 Georgian troops from Iraq to Georgia. They've been called back to defend their home country. I can't help but think of Rome calling its legionaries back from the borderlands to defend Italy from invading barbarians.

~Personal thought: Georgia's Saakashvili got played. Yet despite the fact that Georgia is not a pure victim because of his bad call, Russia's actions should make everybody nervous. And Putin's ambitions for a neo-USSR seem clear -- by which I mean the desire for Russia to control Eurasia and to dominate its former satellites. A chill wind is blowing over not just Georgia, but Ukraine and everyone else whom Russia wants in its sphere of influence. (See this Australia op-ed too.)

Georgia and Russia: Fighting Escalates over South Ossetia

While the world's been distracted by the Olympic fanfare, the Caucasus has burst into flames as Georgia and Russia come to blows over South Ossetia. Amid all the glittering Olympic rhetoric of world unity and whatnot, this is a harsh dose of brutal reality. The ancient Greeks, always a scrappy lot that fought each other as much they fought non-Greeks, at least had the idea of the "Olympic truce" to suspend hostilities while the Games were in session. No such luck for modern Games. The "truce" today is simply an idea, and one that looks increasingly naive.

Some things to consider about the current conflict: How much of the Caucasus fighting is really about South Ossetian separatists per se and how much is really about Russia flexing its muscles and wanting to hold/expand its sphere of influence? Georgia is, you'll recall, a US ally that has pro-Western leanings and a desire to join NATO.

Time to send in the clowns -- I mean, the diplomats.

UPDATE 1: I was half-joking with my shot at diplomats, but then I read this bit in a fresh report: "On Friday evening, the UN Security Council failed to agree on the wording of a statement calling for a ceasefire." *snort of derision* What a waste of space the Security Council is.

UPDATE 2: TigerHawk has more, with links.

UPDATE 3: Professor-blogger James Joyner thinks about South Ossetia in the context of Kosovo.

UPDATE 4: It is also, like most modern conflicts, a war of the media and information.