While I was on holiday busy with private matters, a new war began on the outskirts of Europe. I must admit the Caucasus is unknown territory to me. Until now, I knew only two things about Georgia: that Joseph Stalin was born there, and that it hosts an important oil pipeline.
According to international law, it is illegal to attack another sovereign country without the permission of the United Nations Security Council. I’m no friend of this law since it has proven a protection for tyrant dictators. Therefore, I would much rather see the UN replaced by an international organization for democracies. However, any such organization would not help the current situation in the Caucasus. Even if Russia’s democracy is restricted and authoritarian, I don’t think it’s bad enough to be labelled a dictatorship. And to my knowledge, Georgia is a democracy.
In the short run, negotiating a truce is the only way forward. Then, once the guns are silent, the international community must help Russia and Georgia agree on permanent borders.
(Map copied from the Guardian. Find it and accompanying information here.)
Yes I'm not sure what to make of the situation there. The media here is all against Russia. However, my dad is from Germany, and he gets a lot of his news from reading one of the Austrian papers online that he likes, and they are pro-Russia, so that made him a little pro-Russia on this too. Then I started asking my dad questions though and it made him a little less sure. For instance, I reminded him the European papers all were practically loving Saddam Hussein before the Iraq War and made the US into the devil, so I asked him if he was sure the European papers are so much more accurate and unbiased than ours.
There are a lot of anti-US people in the EU, which translates to perhaps liking Russia a little more. Austria might have ties with the history of Russia and being close to the Slavic nations. Also there are a greater amount of socialist sympathasizers in the EU, which translates into liking Russia a little more, because of it being so connected with socialism. Then Russia has a lot of money now, which they are not afraid to spread around. Chances are they have PR people going to the media, either honestly or with payments and favors. So I'm wondering if the continental EU media is the best place for him to get information from.
Probably you need to look at both media and combine the two.
USAgal,
The anti-Americanism in the EU exists, but its nature is very similar to that of an envious smaller sibling. People don’t hate America in the true sense of the word. Russia, on the other hand, is traditionally seen as a real threat to Europe. And for good reason. After all, had it not been for the Russians, the eastern half of Europe wouldn’t have suffered under communism for nearly a century. Our continent was ripped apart by Russia, and I think it will take at least a generation to fully heal the wounds.
Do you know the name of the Austrian newspaper your father reads?
He told me but I forgot. Some big Austrian paper. I'll ask him next time. He said that by reading it he heard the leader of Georgia was crazy and they are picking on the Ossetians. Opposite of what we hear here, that Georgia is a great example of Democracy, etc. Maybe that paper is an exception then. Could be a Commie paper and he doesn't know it.
However, I know my German aunts and uncles are kind of Russian sympathisers, so I just assumed a lot of people over there were. Of course they are old now so maybe they don't reflect the average today. Yes one would assume with the Soviet bloc past they would hate Russia more, but for some reason they hate America more. Not having been to Europe for a while now, I don't know how common that feeling is and I think it might vary by country too.
But I started to get my suspicions on Russia's influence on the EU media before the Iraq War and the seeming EU indifference or obliviousness to the horrors of Iraq. And I kind of wondered where that came from and who had the most interest in pushing that angle and it seemed Russia might, so I'm looking for any new clues to prove my theory on Russian influence on the EU media now.
And by the way, when I say Europeans "hate" Americans, I don't actually mean "hate", I am just being dramatic. I know most Europeans don't actually "hate" America. That's just my shorthand for many EU people being overly suspicious or disagreeing a lot with the US or not appreciating the US enough.