Dive into the archives.
- Cuban Missile Crisis Redux?
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. It seems history may rhyme after all if current news reports are to be believed. According to the AFP, there was discussion in the Russian news of Moscow flying long range bombers to Cuba again.
Russia would cross “a red line [...]
- Berlin Steps in on Abkhazia
While Georgia-Russia tensions have mostly brought involved the US, EU and aforementioned two parties, Germany has stepped in with its own plan for peace in Abkhazia. A Spiegel article notes the plan consists of three phases,
Phase one of the German plan envisages a year of trust-building measures. These would include declarations renouncing violence and the [...]
- Use Connectivity to Win Abkhazia
The WSJ has an op-ed on the recent Abkhaz-Georgian-Russian tensions which for anyone following it, offers mainly a summary of the situation up until now recounting especially Georgian mistakes while spending little time on Russia. In fact, it fails to clearly define Russia’s role. While most articles continue to refer to Russian “peacekeepers” it seems [...]
- Another Day, Another UAV
News from Abkhazia seems to be a broke record these days. The Abkhaz news agency is claiming that two more Georgian drones were shot down today. So what is going on?
As far as I can tell, the drone in question is an Elbit Hermes 450, an Israeli made UAV. However, I haven’t found any details [...]
- Another Drone Down?
Globalsecurity.org reports that Abkhazia claims it has shot down yet another Georgian drone, bringing the unconfirmed total to five. They include drones shot down (allegedly) on March 18, April 20th, and two more on May 4th. While Georgia denies the report, it would coincide with the rise in tensions with Russia and now, especially with [...]
- Jamestown on Abkhazia
I’ve recently discussed the Georgia/Russia conflict here, here and here. Now, Jamestown weighs in on the Russian troop movements into Abkhazia with additional insight:
If indeed the Georgians have massed 1500 troops with some guns in the upper Kodori, they cannot possibly be used as “a bridgehead” to begin an attack on Abkhazia. The upper Kodori [...]
- To Annex or Annoy?
A question to readers:
I recently predicted that hostilities between Georgia and Russia will increase through the end of the year. This is due primarily to Kosovar independence now being used as an ostensible reason to ramp up aggression against Tbilisi. However, although official annexation is a possibility, using the alleged Kosovo precent (more here), it [...]
- Hot Gets Hotter in the Caucasus
Yesterday I mentioned the increasing belligerence of Russia and its aggression towards Georgia. Today, Moscow has threated force should Georgia attempt to retake its own territory militarily. The first assumption here, is that Georgia is somehow preparing for war, a charge which Moscow has almost certainly invented to buy a short term advantage. In doing [...]
- The Wine or the Sword?
Last year, while talking with several Georgian students outside an Orthodox church, they pointed at the large statue of a woman which towered over Tbilisi. It was “Mother Georgia” they said and in her hands were a bowl (for wine) and a sword. “We greet our friends with wine and our enemies with the sword” [...]
- Deterence And the Missile Shield
As is common with most things dominating the news cycle, important background explanations and underlying principles are often if not always left inadequately answered or not touched on at all. One such example is the US missile shield which now has the official backing of NATO and the issue of Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. [...]
