Category Archives: “Near Abroad”

I wish I would have seen Yulia Latynina’s Moscow Times editorial earlier.  I would have found someway to incorporate it into my post on the Ukrainian election.  No matter, the op-ed stands on its own. The beauty of Latynina’s rant, Letting Poor People Vote is Dangerous, is that she’s basically saying what I think every Western liberal wants to say, but can’t because it’s politically incorrect.  I guess this is one reason why we should actually thank Latynina.  Such honesty, no matter how despicable, is nonetheless refreshing.  It’s a rare moment when class war toward the poor hangs all out at a time when its Western warriors shroud their class turpitude with identity politics.

Here’s a snippet to get a taste of her raving class hatred:

Viktor Yanukovych’s victory in Sunday’s presidential election — not unlike the victories of former ..read more

Reading Western press reactions to the election of Viktor Yanukovich as president of Ukraine are lessons in how democracy is measured in our era.  Whereas Marx called the coup of Napoleon III a farce to the tragedy of his uncle’s reign, press opinion of Yanukovich’s victory is better viewed as a tragic reenactment to his farcical attempt to steal it in 2004. (Although, Marx’s original play of tragedy and farce might still be in the making as Tiger-Yulia plans contest the results.) Thus for observers of this weekend’s election, revolution has given way to potential counterrevolution, enthusiasm to depression, light to darkness, sincerity to tragic irony.  The disappointment is so palatable that you can’t help wonder if commentators deluded themselves into believing that the election was their own, and Ukrainians were supposed to express their voice.  But ..read more

The results of the Presidential elections in Ukraine were as predicted.  Viktor Yanukovich took 35% of the vote to Tymoshenko’s 24.7%.  The two will face each other in a run-off on 2 February.  If one needed more proof that all is good in Ukraine, the Moscow Times reports that traders in the Ukrainian hryvna and stocks took the results “in their stride and said markets would be calm.”  Well, all will definitely be good now that the results are blessed by the hand of God.

The big story, however, is not the election, the candidates, the possibility of continued political chaos, or even voter apathy. The big story is why Georgia sent 2000 election “observers” to Ukraine.  Yesterday, I noted reports of two charter planes flying into Donetsk carrying a total of 297 Georgian “athletic men” aged 25 to 45.  What were they doing in Donetsk per chance?  According to what ..read more

Today Ukrainians head for the polls, the endpoint (or midpoint depending on your opinion) to a colorful campaign where only the candidates appeared to be having fun.  It’s too bad that Ukrainians don’t have little buttons they can press to kick candidates off the campaign trail.  Instead of a having to choose from a list of 18 potentials, and then between two in an expected run-off, they could have simply kicked everyone off the island.  The reject all vote sounds good to some.  So much so that one candidate is reported to have changed his name to Vasyl Protyvsikh, or Vasyl “Against All” with the hope to garner some votes.   But alas, democracy is what it is.  Too often you vote for the candidate you get rather than the one you want.

If there is one story dominating this election it is the “widespread disillusionment” of the electorate.  As Flavor ..read more

Remember that little war between Russia and Georgia last year?  You know the one that sparked the endless playground debate of who started it?  Which ramped the rhetoric of a New Cold War to an all time high?  Well, that little war could have become a very big one according to Ronald D. Asmus in A Little War That Shook the World: Georgia, Russia and the Future of the West. In his review of the book for Bloomberg, James Neuger reports:

“Several senior White House staffers” urged “at least some consideration of limited military options,” such as bombing the mountain tunnel that served as Russia’s main supply line.

Luckily, cooler heads in the Oval Office prevailed. Namely, George W. Bush, of all people, who put the kibosh on the idea.

Four days after the war started on Aug. 7, 2008, Bush cut off the discussion. A top-level White House meeting produced ..read more

Ukraine’s Orange Revolution might not have provided stability, but it sure has increased the entertainment factor of its presidential elections. They’re far more entertaining that Russia’s stuffy, no contest campaigns. Despite the high fun factor, Ukrainian voter disillusionment is high, while the candidates, hoping to jostle into a competitive pole position, are getting down and dirty.  What a bunch of party poopers.

Today, Yulia Timoshenko showed her “claws,” reports Reuters, in an attack on poll leader Viktor Yanokovich a coward for refusing to participate in an election eve debate.  She also pilloried him and the oligarchs backing him with claims they are planning to rig the election.

“If fraudulence is revealed, if we are unable to defend an honest result and prove that there was falsification, then we will resort to the courts,” Tymoshenko said on Sunday night.

“We will protect the country from a second coming of this oligarchic plague of locusts ..read more