Like most people, I had high hopes for the UN at one time but now see it as having slipped too far into irrelevance to be useful in these troubled times. Not only do I see the UN fading into the background, but I see massive power blocks like those of the Cold War moving back in. The west, via NATO, is one such power block; Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (all hopefully spelled correctly!) appear to be another via apparatuses like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) . A number of states, including Iran, Pakistan and India have "observer" status in the SCO. The game is to be big enough to push back if pushed, particularly over issues such as access to oil resources. The Siberian "Stans" have oil and gas and big players like China and Russia want to make sure that their access to these and other resources is not jeopardized. The swift and brutal Russian reaction to the Georgian attack on South Ossetia is a reflection of Russian fears about further western intrusion into what has traditionally been its space. That such intrusion has already come some distance is reflected in oil activity near the Caspian Sea and the Baku to Ceyhan pipeline which carries the oil to the west via Georgia. There's not much oil flowing to the west so far, but volumes could certainly increase.
George Bush can rail against Russia all he wants but given the huge costs of war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the failing American economy, there isn't much he can do about Georgia. At the most he can do some aggravating things, like station missile bases in Poland aimed at Iran, with which Russia has good relations. Bush, thank God, is finished, but the business he and his "cabal of weapons dealers and oil profiteers" (to quote Ronald Wright in today's Globe and Mail) started will go on for many years and probably decades. One really has to feel sorry for whoever will take over from him. I hope its McCain. I would hate to see an idealist like Obama brought down to ruin. Ed
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