Good for the Albanians in Kosovo. Congrats on being the newest country in the world!

Sunday's declaration by the Kosovo parliament said independence would be built in accordance with the UN plan drawn up by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.

Kosovo Serbs protest against the independence of Kosovo in Mitrovica, 18 February 2008
Mitrovica saw a big protest by Kosovo Serbs on Monday

This outlines several limits on independence including an international presence and provision for the protection of the Serb minority.

Mr Bush, speaking in Tanzania during an Africa tour, said the plan would be the "blueprint forward".

One of the first states which recognised Kosovo was Afghanistan which referred to "the right of sovereignty".

The Russians are condemning this action, and the Spanish are nervous, possibly fearing this being an example for the Basques.

Labels: EU, Russia

Posted by Ryan S. at 11:22 AM | Permalink | |

I really have to commend TIME magazine on their selection for Person of the Year in Vladimir Putin. It's really an inspired choice, and certainly better than last year's "pick". I thought Al Gore was a shoe-in.


Personally, I think he's the most intelligent world leader in power right now, though I certainly don't trust him. Russia is reasserting it's place as a major world power, and Putin is taking down that road in a matter that is simply masterful. Fascinating too.

I recommend picking up TIME this issue, or reading it online for the articles on Russia alone. Totally worthwhile.

Labels: Pop Culture, Putin, Russia

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:29 PM | Permalink | |

OK, so Putin has dissolved the Russian government. Now it is extremely newsworthy, don't get me wrong. However, it isn't as big of a deal as people might think.

What Putin has not done is told the government to pack up and go because he is installing himself as a dictator. Nope, not this time.

Putin dissolved the Russian government to have elections. Elections, I tell you! The same way that England has done it longer than this country has been in existence.

What is significant about it really is twofold. One, it shows that no matter what he does that we don't like Putin has some respect for the Russian Constitution. Two, it shows us who might replace him as President when he steps down, which is causing murmurs throughout the Russian elite:

The nomination of Viktor Zubkov, who currently oversees the government's fight against money laundering, appeared to have caught much of the Russian political elite off-guard.

Putin had been expected to announce in December whom he would back to run for president next year—and Russia's two first deputy prime ministers—former Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and gas giant Gazprom board chairman Dmitry Medvedev—were widely considered to be the leading contenders.

"All expected successors had an awkward moment as Putin again showed that he's a master of disinformation," analyst Stanislav Belkovsky said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

Frankly, I'm just shocked the Russians have someone fighting money laundering.

Labels: Russia

Posted by Ryan S. at 2:19 PM | Permalink | |

This is why Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper rocks:

TORONTO, Ontario (AP) -- Canada's prime minister has begun a three-day trip to the Arctic in an effort to assert sovereignty over the region a week after Russia symbolically staked a claim to the North Pole by sending submarines.

. . .

"The Russians sent a submarine to drop a small flag at the bottom of the ocean. We're sending our prime minister to reassert Canadian sovereignty," a senior government official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because his language was undiplomatic.

Sure, we dispute it, but what else does Canada have going for it? Hockey, Molson, and Rush. Why not add total arctic domination?

Related: Book Review: Stephen Harper & The Future of Canada

Labels: Canada, Harper, Putin, Russia

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:26 AM | Permalink | |

And the Wall came down:

Labels: History, Ronald Reagan, Russia

Posted by Ryan S. at 11:43 AM | Permalink | |

The current state of Russia has me really worried, though there has been some good news. Alvaro Vargas Llosa has a comparison between Putin's elected dictatorship and those in Latin America:

With the exception of Venezuela, the authoritarian institutions operating under democratically elected governments in Latin America are not as bad as Russia's. It is true that power is more decentralized in Latin America, where governments have not been able or willing to wrest back economic influence from the private interests that surfaced during the market reforms of the 1990s, and where the institutions of the state are too weak to suppress voluntary associations and civic activity.

If we compare Mexico and Russia, the evidence seems to confirm Vorozheykina's views. Mexico was also dominated by a party-state for much of the 20th century and underwent a process of reform in the 1990s aimed at fostering liberal democracy and privatizing a large part of the economy.

Despite its many flaws, reform improved the political and economic environment. In Russia, liberal democracy never quite surfaced, and, according to Vorozheykina, ``economic reform did not amount to transferring assets from the state to the private sector but from private hands to private hands using the state trademark.'' In other words, the collapse of the Soviet Union was followed by the capture of the state by certain factions. Putin then reacted against the oligarchy of the 1990s by establishing his own oligarchy. By contrast, although there was much crony capitalism and the reforms did not exactly produce Jeffersonian checks and balances, Mexico's system is freer.

Labels: Latin America, Russia

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:34 PM | Permalink | |

The Times:

Europe’s oil supplies from Russia were being held to ransom last night as the Kremlin fell into bitter dispute with a former Soviet satellite state. Moscow abruptly halted millions of barrels of oil destined for the EU via Belarus in an increasingly hostile wrangle with its neighbour.

The move raised further questions over whether Western Europe can trust Mr Putin for its energy supply. Experts said that Russia had a deeply entrenched habit of manipulating oil and gas supplies as a substitute for diplomatic policy.

Seems like a bit much to me. Russia is going to be in big trouble soon in terms of stability. And that's going to be bad news for everyone, except perhaps nuke-hungry Muslims and the Red Chinese.

Labels: EU, Oil, Putin, Russia

Posted by Ryan S. at 6:36 PM | Permalink | |