Blogposts by Tag: Russia

  • Powergame in EU-Russia summit

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    Rating: 4.5/5 with 2 votes

    Published Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 02:47
    by Ari Rusila in Debate (69 views and 0 comments)

    EU summit meeting with Russia in France Friday 14th Nov. was designed to reopen talks on a pact of cooperation after the crisis in relations caused by the Georgia conflict on August 2008.  Before meeting hard words have been changed over Kaliningrad missiles, Nato radars and EU/OSCE monitors in Georgia.  However the core question can be the energy game.  A day before summit EU came out with its supergrid plan and Russia questioning Baltic Pipe.  Southern energy corridor is an other battleground.
    Power supergrid plan

    EU’s Power supergrid plan is partly designed to decrease EU’s dependence about Russian gas. The Timesonline got look about plan and describes it as follows:

    The building blocks of the proposed supergrid would be new cables linking North Sea wind farms, and a network patching together the disparate electricity grids of the Baltic region and the countries bordering the Mediterranean, according to a blueprint drawn up by the European Commission. EU states will also be asked to pay for at least two ambitious gas pipelines to bring in supplies from Central Asia and Africa. The plans also call for a Community Gas Ring, or a network allowing EU countries to share supplies if Russia turns off the taps.

    The EU Energy Security Plan notes that Europe imports 61 per cent of its gas, a figure projected to rise to 73 per cent by 2020. Russia sells about two-fifths of the total, including the entire supply... read more

    Tags: Balkans, Baltic Pipe, Caucasus, energy, EU, Nabucc, Nord Stream, Russia

  • Is GUUAM dead?

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    Rating: 4.5/5 with 2 votes

    Published Monday, November 3, 2008 at 22:19
    by Ari Rusila in Debate (230 views and 0 comments)

    After “Cold War” US has all the while expanded its influence post-Soviet territory with aim to guide those region’s natural resources under US companies.  As stakes have been control over the oil and gas  of the Caspian Sea/Black Sea/Caucasus basin, and the control of multiple key energy pipelines criss-crossing the region.  Economical interests have been linked to political game e.g. Nato enlargement.  While EU has been more bystander Russia has during last couple of years weight down the scale in favour of its own interests by series of successful operations. 

    GUUAM & SRS GUUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova) Group was founded 1999 with help of US to foster favourable conditions conducive to economic growth through development of an Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport corridor.  GUUAM was dominated by Anglo-American oil interests, ultimately purports to exclude Russia from oil and gas deposits in the Caspian area, as well as isolating Moscow politically. From its part GUUAM was designed to support sc. Silk Road Strategy Act – adopted by US Cogress March 1999 -  which defined America’s broad economic and strategic interests in a region extending from the Mediterranean to Central Asia. The Silk Road Strategy (SRS) outlines a framework for the development of America’s business empire through development of an Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport corridor.  (More about this...

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    Tags: Caucasus, energy, Russia, US Foreign policy

  • Powerplay behind the new Cold War

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    Rating: 4.5/5 with 2 votes

    Published Saturday, October 18, 2008 at 14:21
    by Ari Rusila in Debate (393 views and 0 comments)

    Powerplay behind the new Cold War  Georgia 08/08/08 is the date when headlines in Western mainstream media started to tell how big, bad aggressive Russia attacked to tiny, democratic, good Georgia.  After that the West continued accusations about occupation a free sovereign state started rethink enforcing its frontlines around Russian border in new cold war era.  Al this despite the fact, that day earlier 7th August 2008 Georgia had started the moths before planned war against its separatist province (look my article “OSCE report fault Georgia - one trivial statement more from EU summit” 4th Sept.2008 from my BlogArchive).  All this despite he fact, that USA had already showed the way how to break international law e.g. by bombing Kosovo and orchestrating the quasi-independence of that separatist province.   While speaking about new confrontation between East and West the (mostly western) political commentators have used first nice, warm words like freedom, democracy, sovereignty, humanitarian catastrophe to justify their planned harder actions to response Russia’s aggression.  However if we scrub the soft spoke for dummies – sorry for public – we can find the hard reality and bigger game behind recent headlines of Caucasus or Balkan events.   I try next to highlight few aspects with this power play.  Pipes  First element I would like to mention is energy. Georgia is part of a NATO... read more

    Tags: Balkans, Caucasus, conflicts, EU foreign policy, Russia, US foreign policy

  • Le choc militaire avec la Chine

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    Rating: 2.7/5 with 3 votes

    Published Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 12:10
    by BenoitFabre in EU in the world (1149 views and 1 comments)

    Nous sommes embourbés dans quelques pays du Tiers-monde : Afghanistan, Irak, Kosovo, où nous déployons le maximum de nos capacités déportables sans succès.

    Imaginez un instant que la dictature chinoise paranoiaque, qui n'est pas en voie de démocratisation par l'économie, mais ressemble plutot à un virus mutant, aie une poussée de fièvre militariste, contre Taiwan tout d'abord, puis contre le Vietnam, la Corée et le Japon, sans parler de ses rivalités avec l'Inde. Que serions nous en mesure de faire ?

    Je rappelle que la Chine nous tient en nous jouant les uns contre les autres dans la compétition économique, qu'elle a acheté les meilleurs sous-marins soviétiques, qu'elle peut faire exploser en vol nos satellites espions, qu'elle a 3 millions d'hommes sous les drapeaux complètement fanatisés, que sa population est nationaliste car ignorante des enjeux internationaux, donc prête à une longue et dure guerre. Et nous ?

    Pour moi, la nouvelle doctrine anti-dictature devrait englober une vaste alliance OTAN_bis:USA+Europe_PESD+Russie, alliée à l'Inde, au Japon et à la Corée du Sud. Il y a urgence à ne pas s'endormir sur nos lauriers, et à décripter le véritable langage de rapport de force de la dictature chinoise.

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    Tags: China, defence, Russia, USA

  • manifesto2009 barometer: EU in the world II

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    Rating: 4/5 with 2 votes

    Published Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 09:57
    by Editor in EU in the world (1197 views and 0 comments)

    The debates on the theme 'EU in the world' continue on a speedy track. During the last month a lot of progressive view-points and ideas have been aired - also on the international responsibilities of the EU and of each and every European citizen. Here’s an account of the debate since the last 'EU in the world' barometer:

    A more transparent and accountable EU foreign policy
    A new debate has been started by social democratic European foundations on the need to have a more transparent and more accountable EU foreign policy. The aim is to ensure that European citizens are aware that, besides the gaps that are always highlighted in the news headlines, the EU is quite successful in its external policies. More democratic control is also required, including through the European Parliament.

    Development - a focus on brain drain and decent work
    Participants are concerned about development as a crucial aspect of the EU’s external activities. Brain drain is a key issue, with Scandinavian PES activists considering that knowledge sharing, education, and brain drain must be given a lot of thought in EU development and foreign policies. The PSOE proposal... read more

    Tags: barometer, decent work, defence, democracy, fair trade, Russia, UN, USA

  • Foundations debate 'EU in the world' in sunny Sofia

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    Rating: 3.8/5 with 5 votes

    Published Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 10:52
    by Editor in EU in the world (1237 views and 2 comments)

    Social democratic European foundations are working hard to contribute to a PES manifesto based on progressive values. The first meeting of the European Network of Social-Democratic Foundations (ENSoF) took place on 29 March 2008 in the beautiful city of Sofia, under the coordinating wing of the Institute for Social Integration of Bulgaria, to debate issues related to the manifesto theme ‘EU in the world’.

    There was a general agreement on the need to have a more transparent and more accountable EU foreign policy, in order to ensure that European citizens are aware that, besides the gaps that are always highlighted in the news headlines, the EU is quite successful in its external policies - for instance in its projects and missions in Eastern European countries. Discussions addressed the need to reinforce strategic partnerships with key international actors such as the United States and Russia. A strong and independent European security and defence policy was viewed as a way to ensure the EU can act alone, even militarily, when required, even without the support of the United States and of NATO – but always in full respect of international law. Representatives of the foundations agreed... read more

    Tags: defence, disarmement, Middle East, multilateralism, neighbours, Russia, security, USA

  • EU and RUSSIA

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    Rating: 2.5/5 with 6 votes

    Published Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 04:16
    by frederic.vareillas Join PES activists in EU in the world (1238 views and 10 comments)

    Hi,

    Dmitri Medvedev has just been chosen by 70 % of the Russian voters to become next President of Russian federation (with Putin as Prime Minister).

    1/ This election has been only PARTLY democratic but a vast majority of the people in Russia are supportive of Putin's policies and are behind Medvedev (more than 60% of th total Russian population. So, Medvedev IS representative of the russians as much as Bush is representative of the americans.

    2/ Russia has 10000 nuclear warheads targeting western Europe because of the American project of an anti missile "shield" (!) in Poland and Chzec Republic.

    3/ America is a debtor nation , diving into a great depression, with no cash or oil left,

    whereas Russia is on the rise : A new middle class, Oil, Gas, Coal, Gold, Diamonds, A new banking, trading, commercial and economic booming system.

    4/ (and most important) : Look at your geographical maps : Kaliningrad, Saint Petersburg, Moscow and most of the big Russian cities ARE in EUROPE.

    5/ A bit of history : The forefathers of the white Russians where the "Varegs", Vikings coming to the region of Moscow around the tenth century A.D.

    Russians Are europeans, and live mostly on the European continent.

    That is to say : Most of the modern european Russians have SWEDISH ancestors : Sweden happens to be a member of the U.E. and is getting ready to join the € zone and the Schengen agreement.

    6/ USA are...

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    Tags: conflict, development, energy, fair trade, Multilareralism, neighbours, peace, Russia

  • Russia and managed democracy

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    Rating: 4/5 with 1 votes

    Published Wednesday, October 3, 2007 at 22:54
    by carl0s Join PES activists in European democracy & diversity (1491 views and 3 comments)

    I've heard it said that Russia could now be described as a "managed democracy." Control of the media and state apparatus is said to have tilted the electorate in a way that democratic debate exists within a pre-defined criteria.

    President Putin, who appears to be popular anyway, can point out that many Western democracies also function in a similar way. The parameters in which they operate are often determined by access to money and media, and these often implicitly or explicitly contain an ideology. An example of this could be the "Cola" Presidents, whereby different soft drinks companies back presidential candidates in the US. Of course, this is generally to achieve the opening of new markets overseas for their companies. So the implicit ideology here is free trade, to the point of bargaining the right to sell fizzy drinks to poor countries.

    In such an environment, should the EU attempt to curtail the concentration of political power in corporate hands and act to regulate all corporate lobbying of government within its jurisdiction? Should it be passing laws to ensure a plurality of media, and preventing singularly powerful figures from owning large chunks of various media outlets?

    The EU can only set an example to the world, as perfect democracy is hard to find. But if we are serious that the EU should be the benchmark for democratic standards, then the way our electorates are influenced and cajoled should be examined. The end...

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    Tags: democracy, media, Russia