When not paying attention to the fallout over the nightmare up north, attention is paid to happenings far away in the land of Georgia, where violent demonstrations have given way to a ban on protests, shutting down of independent television stations, presidential outbursts, and a scolding from NATO.In the West, Saakashvili has been portrayed generally as a good guy who wants a higher standard of living for his people. But the complex (aren't they always?) domestic politics of the Caucasian country have captured international attention as Saakashvili's former defense minister Irakli Okruashvili accused him of ordering a hit on opposition leader Badri Patarkatsishvili.
The labyrinthine nature of Georgian politics makes it hard to digest what is going on there, and the completely cynical nature of Russia makes it difficult to get to the bottom of Saakashvili's claims about foreign interference. Nobody really believes that Russia is concerned about human rights in Georgia, for example. They just want Saakashvili out. Will they get their wish? Hmm.
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And now he called for snap elections. Just as I was wondering how he manages to save his face after last night. Clever.
Shaakashvili went to same school you did, G?
GW, right?
Hey...
He went to GW
President Saakashvili studied in the United States for years. He attended Columbia University in New York City as an Edmund S. Muskie Fellow and received a Master’s Degree in Law in 1995. From 1995 to 1996, he studied law at the doctoral level at The George Washington University National Center of Law in Washington, D.C.
EPLi Jaanus Piirsalu sai ka Georgia miilitsa käest vastu lõugu, nsgu ta blogist võib lugeda.
russia does not necessarily want saakashvili out, they want instability in georgia. the successor of shaakashvili could be much more anti-russian.
I see. This is all done to delay Georgian NATO membership. From what I understand it's not possible in Ukraine because the people generally don't support it, but in Georgia they are more supportive of NATO membership.
There seems to be turmoil everywhere. Georgia, Pakistan, even in Latvia people took to the streets the other day to celebrate the weather. Do high oil prices have something to do with civil unrest in (some) of those countries? They have less money to spend and they blame their governments.
In all three countries it has to do with charges of corruption and authoritarian policies. Pakistan is especially nasty.
instability often follows economic growth as new leaders emerge in the non gov sector. With out formal ways of renewal of leadership, new groups must express new demands through "agitation".
Why do I suddenly want Ansip to stay in office through 2011?
Maybe because you think: Hey, things aren't going badly, why change?
Somehow I don't think having a cynical former communist party functionary as prime minister is the best we could have.
And ask yourself: what would someone else have done differently if they were in office instead of Ansip? I'd say most things would have been the same, including the Bronze riot.
Maybe because you think: Hey, things aren't going badly, why change?
Ideologically, I feel closest to SDE. But right now it is impossible that SDE could run the government.
The only party that has the support to run the government is Reform. So whomever will be PM will be from that party.
Who else do you suggest could be PM? Could Siim Kallas magically return to take Ansip's place?
Somehow I don't think having a cynical former communist party functionary as prime minister is the best we could have.
Well who is? People say Laar, but IRL only has 15 percent support in the polls.
Plus I am wary of dealing with Isamaa Res Publica Liit. It's not the leadership, but some of the more extreme nutcases in the party ranks who fantasize about deporting the population of Narva before they go to bed at night.
They are counterproductive, to say the least.
As for Keskerakond, it's a one-man party. If someone else took over I might take them a tiny bit more seriously. But who wants to vote for a personality party.
That's why I like SDE. They have no personality ;)
And ask yourself: what would someone else have done differently if they were in office instead of Ansip? I'd say most things would have been the same, including the Bronze riot.
I agree. If it was still there it would be getting vandalized on a weekly basis. Maybe Jüri Liim would have made good on his pledge to blow it up.
Tallinn's Russian community made a big stink over the statue, but at least they won't have to deal with it being vandalized anymore.
is there any participation of russo-estonians In laulupidu, or is it the ultimate ethnofest of the eesti folk? It seems to me that this is the ultimate foundation of the. State. The solution to separation is unity in something, or some one. Better something.
It seems to me that this is the ultimate foundation of the state.
The state was created in a haphazard way. Alexander I reopened Tartu University and at the same time created district councils -- they were subserviant to the Baltic German landowners, but they still marked the entry of ethnic Estonians into "politics".
Up until the first half of the 19th century, Estonians were a rural people. The Germans were the ones who lived in the cities. Industrialization caused Estonians to move to the cities. In 1905, the Estonians gained enough electoral clout to win Tallinn elections, the first time ever that Estonians, rather than Germans, ran that city.
By 1917 you had a generation or two of homegrown local politicians that were looking for greater autonomy. The Russian Revolution allowed them to demote the Baltic German upperclass and free themselves from the mess of the collapsing Russian empire.
The lead Estonian diplomat in Tartu in February 1920 was Jaan Poska, the major of Tallinn, for example.
As we all know, the Soviet takeover in 1940 was totally illegitimate. The new government was formed in the Soviet embassy. But the government managed to set somethings up at that time, like sending its gold reserves abroad, to ensure state continuity.
At that time, they thought that the occupation would only last a few years. They were slightly off in their calculations, but right none the less.
is there any participation of russo-estonians In laulupidu, or is it the ultimate ethnofest of the eesti folk?
There are some. But that's like a couple of hundred out of 18 thousand I think. Most Russians are pretty apathetic about it because they don't feel like singing (or listening to) Estonian songs as far as I've understood it.
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