new book about NATO and East Europe relations
for those interested with security studies... have a look :)
LINK
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In 2010-2011, Russia will not have enough conscripts to continue to man its army at current levels, and the strategic and resource-rich Siberian expanses are facing depopulation. How the Kremlin manages this coming crunch will determine whether or not Russia has the human capacities to remain a great power, Ben Judah writes for ISN Security Watch.source: civil.ge
EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) said it has intensified patrols in the areas adjacent to breakaway regions’ administrative border on the eve of the last August war’s anniversary. “So far, despite the heightened tension and claims of incidents, the overall situation remains broadly calm. We very much trust that all parties will continue their efforts to maintain this position,” EUMM said in a statement on August 6.
EUMM again called on all the parties to refrain from “any words or actions that could be misunderstood or misinterpreted” and to raise any issues of concern in frames of incident prevention and response mechanism.“We stand ready to facilitate further meetings between the parties as necessary. We are also willing to examine further evidence if given access across the administrative boundary lines to do so,” EUMM said.
Georgia marks anniversary of the August war on Friday with number of ceremonies with one, which involved a nationwide minute of silence at 3pm local time to commemorate those killed in the war.
Read full article on Civil.ge
It is important to note that Ukraine and Georgia represent a somewhat different cases than the Baltic Republics or other Eastern European countries. With the exception of the Baltic states, the countries seeking NATO and EU membership in the 1990s had not been part of the Soviet Union. Moreover, they benefited from historical traditions of democratic governance and their “Europeanness” was never in doubt. Even the Baltic States, that were administered by the USSR, were perceived internationally as having certain legitimate claims to statehood throughout the Soviet period.
Ukraine and Georgia, in contradistinction to this, had to invent a modern statehood after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. These countries are weaker, poorer, and more politically problematic than the central and eastern European states. Georgia, for instance experiences much more serious security threats than any of those countries, including the Baltic states, ever did. More importantly, Ukraine and Georgia enjoy much less Western support in terms of membership prospects in the EU and NATO, than those countries did. Additionally to this we should take into consideration another important change that occurred in the 21 century: Russia has changed. In the 90s, it was a post-collapsed, weak state trying to figure out its new orientations. Now, a more powerful, nationalist, courageous and aggressive Russia is challenging the West.
( READ MORE... )Russia, at odds with Western powers over Georgia, vetoed on Monday a Western plan to extend the mandate of a U.N. mission in the former Soviet republic, in a death blow to the 130-strong observer force. There were 10 votes in favor and four abstentions, one of which was China's. No country joined Russia in voting against. Reuter reports:
( READ MORE... )Georgia is in favor of maintaining UN observer mission, “but not at any price,” Giga Bokeria, the Georgian deputy foreign minister, said on June 5.
UN Security Council will meet on June 12 to discuss the matter and the resolution by the Council is expected for June 15, when the current four-month mandate of UN observer mission, monitoring situation on the both sides of the Abkhaz administrative border, as well as in upper Kodori Gorge, expires.
Civil Georgia reports.
Grigory Karasin, the Russian deputy foreign minister, reiterated Moscow’s position on the need of having two separate OSCE missions one based in Tskhinvali and another one in Tbilisi to reflect the change of realities on the ground since the August war. He told the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna that other options would keep organization member states “hostages of politicized and stalemated situation.” Civil Georgia reports.
( READ MORE... )
President Saakashvili said on June 5, that Georgia reacted firmly and did not “swallowed” removal of “Abkhazia, Georgia” wording from the UN Secretary General’s recent report on Abkhazia. Civil Georgia reports.
