aaus-list @ ukrainianstudies.org -- [aaus-list] Kagan and Kristol on the West's response to Putin's waragainst Georgia

["Walter R Iwaskiw" <wiwa@loc.gov>]

"Putin's aggression against Georgia should not be traced only to its
NATO aspirations or his pique at Kosovo's independence. It is primarily
a response to the 'color revolutions' in Ukraine and Georgia in 2003 and
2004, when pro-Western governments replaced pro-Russian ones. What the
West celebrated as a flowering of democracy the autocratic Putin saw as
geopolitical and ideological encirclement.

Ever since, Putin has been determined to stop and, if possible, reverse
the pro-Western trend on his borders. He seeks not only to prevent
Georgia and Ukraine from joining NATO but also to bring them under
Russian control. Beyond that, he seeks to carve out a zone of influence
within NATO, with a lesser security status for countries along Russia's
strategic flanks. That is the primary motive behind Moscow's opposition
to U.S. missile defense programs in Poland and the Czech Republic. 

His war against Georgia is part of this grand strategy. Putin cares no
more about a few thousand South Ossetians than he does about Kosovo's
Serbs. Claims of pan-Slavic sympathy are pretexts designed to fan
Russian great-power nationalism at home and to expand Russia's power
abroad. 

Unfortunately, such tactics always seem to work. While Russian bombers
attack Georgian ports and bases, Europeans and Americans, including very
senior officials in the Bush administration, blame the West for pushing
Russia too hard on too many issues. "

Robert Kagan, "Putin Makes His Move," The Washington Post, August 11,
2008

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/10/AR2008081001871.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

***

"... [C]onsider the implications of our turning away from Georgia for
other aspiring pro-Western governments in the neighborhood, like
Ukraine’s. Shouldn’t we therefore now insist that normal relations
with Russia are impossible as long as the aggression continues, strongly
reiterate our commitment to the territorial integrity of Georgia and
Ukraine, and offer emergency military aid to Georgia?"

William Kristol, "Will Russia Get Away With It?," The New York Times,
August 10, 2008 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/opinion/11kristol.html