Finally before I leave, how 'bout a look at where our past observations have gone? We don't shy away from facts at Robinson Talking Points. I was raving like World War V was upon us in Devil Comes Down To Georgia (for ref: WWIII = Cold War, WWIV = War Against Militant Islam). Who was going to blink in early May? Clearly the West, who didn't have a chance against a determined Putin. Well, what has been happening? The US press has ignored it completely. The London Telegraph has an article by a Russian writer who claims both sides have ratcheted up tension in advance of the long-scheduled, small-scale NATO exercise, but that Russia is making a big deal of it as an excuse to bulk up their troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Well, ominous, but no WWV.
In searching for more stories, I stumbled on an Estonian paper Eesti Elu or 'Estonian Life', that has a good, honest article on it. Looks like the exercise is carrying on but WWV isn't happening, but the Russians are still increasing their troops in the area.
Another article discussed a topic I find interesting but never see talked about: the status of the city of Kaliningrad, Russia, or what was formerly known as Koenigsberg, Prussia. This 'exclave' of Russia is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic coast. It used to be the capital of Prussia, and was the heartland of the German military class, the Junkers, that were the driving force in unifiying Germany. I always wondered why Kaliningrad didn't break away from Russia at the end of the cold war, but never heard anything about it. Well, this article at least discusses the fact that changing the name back to Koenigsberg is being debated, which is a small first step towards independence. Evidently the Russians have kept this exclave stocked full of troops, but now they can't afford to keep them there anymore, and...what a coincidence...we see an effort to change the name of the exclave now that the Russian troops are leaving.
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I farted on the set of blue lagoon once!
ReplyDeleteForeign policy is an area that I am not very knowledgeable on.
ReplyDeleteAll very interesting. Russia is up to its' old games. I found it interesting that Russia stated that there could be war over the arctic region within a decade. http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/wm327.cfm
Russia banning political opponents and Russia's aggressive stance towards the West demonstrates that America needs to be watchful of Russia It is also interesting what China is up to. http://uk.reuters.com/article/usPoliticsNews/idUKTRE54363X20090504
Hopefully the current people in charge of the government are aware of the threats that are out there. I find it troublesome that the only thing the government is cutting back on--it is expanding just about everything else it does-- is national defense.
We are a nation of peace Jeff. Let Russia have the arctic. They need it. We are rich. We don't need it as much. Stop being so selfish with this worlds resources. There is enough to share. Gosh
ReplyDeleteCan't do that.
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