While South Ossetia has declared itself a nation independent of Georgia (much to Georgia's ire), it seems to be more reliant on Russian foreign aid and military assistance more than ever.
Thousands of Russian troops guard both the country and it's borders, and "Russian aid compromises 99% of South Ossetia's budget since 2008." This is obviously not the mark of a healthy, independent nation but that of a satellite state that would decay into a 3rd world state if foreign aid were ever cut off.
This of course is an understandable situation for a war torn country that broke off and became independent only years ago. Unfortunantly, corruption stains the government of South Ossetia, to the point where elections are dangerous especially for the candidate opposing the Russian-backed leader. Alla Dzhioeva won the elections that were held in November of 2011, but Anatoli Bibilov maintained Russian support even if more than 50% of the population voted for Dzhioeva. Eventually, the supreme court ruled in favor of Anatoli and Dzhioeva argued against this, demanding inauguration by February 10th. Oddly enough, she was attacked by masked men soon after this, and remains hospitalized at this time. By no means does this incriminate Russia, as Dzhioeva was very pro Russia and pro Putin. However, the people of South Ossetia now harbour some level of suspicions against their benevolent providers, as they realize that Russia is not always a "honest broker".
Georgia still has no part in what they consider Russian occupied territory, and relations are as poor as ever for them. It seems that the fate and future of the relatively new independant South Ossetia lies not in the hands of it's people and politicians, but at the Kremlin.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Cause and Effect: Who Started the South Ossetian War?
The South Ossetian War that occured in late 2008 was a diplomatic crisis for the entire world, especially considering that it took place during the Olympics and many world leaders attentions were divided. Lots has been said about the cause of the war and whether or not Georgia or South Ossetia, or even Russia started it. In Europe however, a fourth name has been brought up: the United States.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has his ties to the American government, having graduated from an American Law School and worked at a law firm in New York City before he became the leader of Georgia. Even during the 2003 Rose Revolution that ousted his predecessor, Saakashvili had recieved funding from the American government, and has since received much more funding over the past few years.
While there are obvious ties to the American government, the United States can only be blamed so far. "State from President Bush and others may have emboldened Saakashvili to expect US assistance that in the end wasn't forthcoming, but that's a far cry from an active role in launching military action."
It's almost impossible to pin the blame on a single party, as it appears that both the United States and Russia we're using their respective allies in a modern version of a proxy war, like two soccer moms fighting vicariously through their kids during a game. Until more evidence comes to light, it appears that the world will have to settle with what it's got.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has his ties to the American government, having graduated from an American Law School and worked at a law firm in New York City before he became the leader of Georgia. Even during the 2003 Rose Revolution that ousted his predecessor, Saakashvili had recieved funding from the American government, and has since received much more funding over the past few years.
While there are obvious ties to the American government, the United States can only be blamed so far. "State from President Bush and others may have emboldened Saakashvili to expect US assistance that in the end wasn't forthcoming, but that's a far cry from an active role in launching military action."
It's almost impossible to pin the blame on a single party, as it appears that both the United States and Russia we're using their respective allies in a modern version of a proxy war, like two soccer moms fighting vicariously through their kids during a game. Until more evidence comes to light, it appears that the world will have to settle with what it's got.
Two-way Drone war
The conflict between Russia and Georgia seems to have started an unprecedented arms build up between the two counties. Except, instead of hoarding guns or nuclear armaments the counties have been seeking advanced drones.
When the South-Ossetian war started in 2008, Georgia initially had an advantage due to the advanced intelligence provided by their advanced Hermes-450 drones, which are nearly as technologically advanced as the Predator drones that the US military employs. Russia on the other hand was stuck using bomber and fighter jets in place of drones for surveillance before even getting access to actual drones. When Russia finally sent out their outdated drones, many were lost because of their outdated technology and were generally ineffective.
Russian officials said that the losses suffered due to the outdated drones was "calamitous" and have recently made a deal with Israeli defense contractors to upgrade their drones to more modern standards, ironically from the same source that Georgia's Hermes-450 Drones came from.
The conflict in the middle east has seen its fair share of drone warfare as well, but the vast majority came from the United States and were used against enemies of the American military. The South-Ossetian war was the first conflict where an actual drone war started, while Russia eventually won the conflict it was a messy victory for them partly due to the unreliable nature of their drones and surveillance compared to the advanced tech that Georgia had employed at the time.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/russia/121022/russia-georgia-drones-little-war?page=0,1
Monday, December 10, 2012
Mahmoud Abbas avoiding negotiations
Since taking office in 2009, Prime Misnister Benjamin Netanyahu has extended gestures towards the Palestinians to encourge their return to the negotiating table with Israel. He has voiced in support of a solution for the conflict between the two states, Isreal and Palestinian. By doing this he has broken the policies of his predecessors. He enforced the freeze on constructions on the building of new Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria. For the stopping on construction to build homes, Isreal was asking for the agreement that they had signed, to be respected and for the Palestinian to have a readness to negotiate with them.
Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abass has avoided talking to the Isreal goverment. To make matters worse he is tring to talk with Hamas to reconcile their differences. Hamas has still been firing missiles on the Isreal cities and towns. Abass is also lobbing to the U.N. for unilateral recognition, insted of recognizing that Isreal exists as a Jewish State. This agreement could possible end the conflict between these two state.
Isreal calls for the support of the world to call for negotiation and resolvoing the confilcit. Rather that give in to Palestinian ploys that will lead to more distrust, hardship and conflict.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2012/12/05/israel-netanyahu-danny-danon/1749705/
Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abass has avoided talking to the Isreal goverment. To make matters worse he is tring to talk with Hamas to reconcile their differences. Hamas has still been firing missiles on the Isreal cities and towns. Abass is also lobbing to the U.N. for unilateral recognition, insted of recognizing that Isreal exists as a Jewish State. This agreement could possible end the conflict between these two state.
Isreal calls for the support of the world to call for negotiation and resolvoing the confilcit. Rather that give in to Palestinian ploys that will lead to more distrust, hardship and conflict.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2012/12/05/israel-netanyahu-danny-danon/1749705/
Global Conflict in The Age of Technology and Internet Piracy Part V
TorrentFreak Article on Kim Dotcom and Megaupload
As more and more people are learning to utilize the internet for a number of applications, friction has begun to arise between legislation and the general population. Kim Dotcom and his company which includes the website Megapuload have created a firestorm of bad press and harsh opinions of both Kim Dotcom and the United States government for their aid in illegal seizures of Dotcom’s possesions. Megaupload was described as, a cloud-based server space and file hosting where users could post their content and download it using a link. This website was closed down and all of Dotcom’s assets were seized during his arrest for copyright infringement, money laundering and a host of other accusations.
Popular opinion has been that his website was removed and his campaign for Megabox.com (where artists would be able to sell their music directly to consumers and keep up to 90% of the profits) was crushed because of influence from the MPAA, RIAA and the like from fear of change. Kim Dotcom writes in his post on Torrentfreak.com, “Megabox.com, a site that will soon allow artists to sell their creations direct to consumers and allowing artists to keep 90% of earnings...You can expect several Megabox announcements next year including exclusive deals with artists who are eager to depart from outdated business models.” (P.21-22) The business models being used for Mega and all of its subsidiaries are intriguing to say the least and I am interested to see how much more conflict comes with it. Conflict is all around us. I am excited to have shared a small portion of the conflict that interests me the most.
Global Conflict in The Age of Technology and Internet Piracy Part IV
The Atlantic Article on ACTA in a Global Capacity
Unfortunately, internet piracy has become such a common theme in media that it has reached the international arena. Legislation in many countries has been modified to include bills and amendments that discuss guidelines, definitions and consequences for internet piracy and copyright infringement. The Atlantic had this to say about it: “In the wake of the public outcry in the United States over proposed domestic antipiracy legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), international regulation is also taking a hit. The edifice of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) seems to have crumbled. This time, however, it happened in Europe.” (P.1) Legislation on a global scale is difficult in itself, but when the laws, themselves are faced with widespread protest, it becomes even more complicated.
Much of the world’s population has fought bills such as these, because they are considered to be intrusive and enable censorship. Many are concerned about the sheer reach of these new laws, “Some governments, such as those of Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, see the agreement as a potential violation of privacy and an abdication of users' rights.”(P.12) This could cause major problems in international politics and I believe the most dramatic problems with global legislation is yet to come. “But ACTA could be just the beginning. In the coming years, the European political landscape will be a particularly fertile testing ground for the emergence of privacy, Internet-freedom and users' rights as a tenet of foreign policy and domestic politics.” (P.13)
Unfortunately, internet piracy has become such a common theme in media that it has reached the international arena. Legislation in many countries has been modified to include bills and amendments that discuss guidelines, definitions and consequences for internet piracy and copyright infringement. The Atlantic had this to say about it: “In the wake of the public outcry in the United States over proposed domestic antipiracy legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), international regulation is also taking a hit. The edifice of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) seems to have crumbled. This time, however, it happened in Europe.” (P.1) Legislation on a global scale is difficult in itself, but when the laws, themselves are faced with widespread protest, it becomes even more complicated.
Much of the world’s population has fought bills such as these, because they are considered to be intrusive and enable censorship. Many are concerned about the sheer reach of these new laws, “Some governments, such as those of Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, see the agreement as a potential violation of privacy and an abdication of users' rights.”(P.12) This could cause major problems in international politics and I believe the most dramatic problems with global legislation is yet to come. “But ACTA could be just the beginning. In the coming years, the European political landscape will be a particularly fertile testing ground for the emergence of privacy, Internet-freedom and users' rights as a tenet of foreign policy and domestic politics.” (P.13)
Global Conflict in The Age of Technology and Internet Piracy Part III
CBSnews.com Article on SOPA and PIPA
I, personally, find the consequences of internet piracy to be quite steep and unreasonable in many countries. The consequences change depending on how many times your file(s) have been downloaded and also how many file(s) were distributed. The United States, for example attempted to pass several bills giving the US government the power to censor sites that could potentially be a hub for copyright infringement. CBSnews.com included an article of the SOPA and PIPA protests and general information that is useful is deciding for yourself. In the article, SOPA, PIPA: What you need to know, “SOPA and PIPA...target the platform -- that is, the site hosting the unauthorized content...The bills would give the Justice Department the power to go after foreign websites willfully committing or facilitating intellectual property theft...The government would be able to force U.S.-based companies, like Internet service providers, credit card companies and online advertisers, to cut off ties with those sites.” (P.7-8) These legislations were met with a public outcry of censorship and certain websites (such as Reddit, Wikipedia, Mozilla, WordPress, and TwitPic), as a protest, participated in a 24-hour internet blackout. This social phenomenon put the bills “on-ice” so to speak.
I, personally, find the consequences of internet piracy to be quite steep and unreasonable in many countries. The consequences change depending on how many times your file(s) have been downloaded and also how many file(s) were distributed. The United States, for example attempted to pass several bills giving the US government the power to censor sites that could potentially be a hub for copyright infringement. CBSnews.com included an article of the SOPA and PIPA protests and general information that is useful is deciding for yourself. In the article, SOPA, PIPA: What you need to know, “SOPA and PIPA...target the platform -- that is, the site hosting the unauthorized content...The bills would give the Justice Department the power to go after foreign websites willfully committing or facilitating intellectual property theft...The government would be able to force U.S.-based companies, like Internet service providers, credit card companies and online advertisers, to cut off ties with those sites.” (P.7-8) These legislations were met with a public outcry of censorship and certain websites (such as Reddit, Wikipedia, Mozilla, WordPress, and TwitPic), as a protest, participated in a 24-hour internet blackout. This social phenomenon put the bills “on-ice” so to speak.
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