"We share the same biology,
regardless of ideology.
Believe me when I say to you,
I hope the Russians love their children too"

These four lines make no sense to anyone born after 1989.

But to those of us who actually heard it for the first time in 1985 on the radio, did it make you think about the state of the cold war?

In the mid 1980's we were all gripped by cold war images.

Rocky IV was fighting Drago, the Russian man-mountain boxer, Frankie Goes to Hollywood were singing about Two Tribes, with video images of Reagan and the Russian premier battling in a wrestling ring, and the subject provided a very rich vein for literature and the stories of Le Carre and Forsyth were based on the cold war.

So, do you think, or have you thought, about the Georgian conflict, and how the Russian premier is talking up a storm about a return to a cold war state?

The US/Poland agreement to let US missiles onto Polish land, the idea that the other Balkan states want to join NATO.

... or is it too far away for you to care about?

So,.... how about them Cowboys???

Wow, bringing up The Cold War, round Two!! You got chutpah!!

Cowboys suck. Round 2 Cold War - We is going to be in it soon. No way around it. MPO.

Actually, I have, and I also was thinking that the Russian president also has makes some good points in the way they are treated by the U.S. and NATO and so on. And how they have pulled the country up by it's boot straps and have had an economy that has steadily improved the past 8 years while our economy has steadily decreased for even longer, and yet they are being treated like a second rate country.......

Why not

I happen to be a little scared of the Russian instabilities.

As a European, they are very close to my home. If they decide to do something instinctive, and do a land grab, we would all be looking for "Reds under the bed"

We should not dismiss the Russian threat so lightly

They have a very tight grip on gas production and oil.

Much agreed! Great post Duncan!

Can diplomacy solve the crisis in the Caucasus?

Seven of the world's leading industrialised nations have jointly condemned Russia's decision to recognise Georgia's breakaway regions. Can tough-style diplomacy bring peace to the region?

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and UK said Moscow's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia violated Georgia's integrity and sovereignty.

Earlier, in a speech in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, The British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, warned the Russian president not to start a new Cold War.

Russia made a formal recognition of the of the breakaway provinces after fighting began between Russia and Georgia after Georgian military tried to retake the provinces by force.

Can international bodies solve this crisis?
What can Western-backed diplomacy achieve in the region?

Is Russia heading for isolation?

the US would do well to start learning to mind its own borders, attend to the needs of its own citizens and stop treating other countries like they exist soley for US interests....

What is the news coverage of this like south of the Equator

Do they give it much airtime?

close our borders???
ignore the world around us??
seems this is firstly against what america stands for and secondly downright ignorant to ignore the problems of the world.
coming from argentina, I think you understand.

Hmmmm....I am cautiously concerned about most of that corner of the European continent... the cranky Chinese... the resolute (not be confused with Absolut vodka)..Russians....

There appears to be many many corners of the world in discontent with certain continents that shall remain nameless.. ...

What that means, as to the impact it will have on this generation of young adults and the next ones scares the patooey out of me!


What are they inheriting?

frankly no...we have our own problems here and the emphasis is on taking care of business here and keeping good relations with our neighbors....

I understand a lot more than you since I live the effects of the US Foreign Policy of "use it up and toss it away"..what exactly does America stand for anyways? Im curious to know what you believe...

America is not a perfect place. it has lots problems.
but it is a melting pot of people and differnet ways of lives.
it is a good place to live.
I hope you are as happy in argentina as I am in america!

Our country is slipping fast with no industrial base a huge debt and only a large nuclear missle force to give us clout in the world. Im suprised any country can take us seriously. Wont be long b4 china calls in our debts and we default. Probably in our best interest to back off the world stage and get our own house in order

Putin: Russia won’t be isolated
Russia will not be isolated because it protected its citizens and upheld its peacekeeping mission, the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said. In an interview on German TV, Putin suggested that if Russia had not responded to Georgian aggression, there could have been a tragedy along the scale of what happened in the former Yugoslavia.

“I think a country like Russia, that protected its citizens, and fulfilled its peacekeeping duties, won't be held in isolation, no matter what our partners think within the limits of their bloc. Europe and the U.S. are not the whole world,” he said.

He recalled the Srebrenica massacre, when thousands were killed when Dutch peacekeepers didn't intervene in the Balkan war.

The Prime Minister insisted that the Georgian government should be held responsible for its action.

“Speaking about the Georgian leadership, people who wreck the territorial integrity and national identity of their country with their actions shouldn't be ruling that country, be it big or small. They should resign straight away,” he said.

”Of course, it's up to them, but we all remember the precedents that we have in history. Let's remember how U.S. troops entered Iraq, and what they did with Saddam Hussein for destroying several Shiite villages. Here, ten Ossetian villages were destroyed right out,” Putin told ARD TV.

"Aren’t you aware of what’s been going on in Georgia in the last few years? The mysterious death of Prime Mnister Zhvania, fighting with the opposition, the violent dispersal of protest demonstrations, holding a national election during a practical state of emergency, and now this criminal action in South Ossetia with many casualties. You call it a democratic country, negotiating with it, and thinking it should be admitted to NATO and the EU?"

Putin said the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict should be dealt within the frame of international law.

“We don’t have any special rules of our own by which we are going to play. We want everybody to play by the same rules. These are called international law. But we don’t want anyone manipulating them - playing it one way in one region, and another way in another region, to suit their own interests. We want to have the same rules for everyone, which would take into account the interests of all members of the international community”.

Putin underlined that Russia wants neighbourly relations with other countries.

"Russia isn't out to aggravate the situation, or to put pressure on anyone. We want good neighbourly relations and partnerships with everyone," he said.

http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/29694

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the Russians say one thing and mean something totally different.

Peaceful co-existance in Russian eyes is to do what they want and you peacefully live with it

R ya sure your not talking about umerika?

Super powers have this idea of lying is good ...

I think kettles, pots and the colour black spring to mind