Into Georgia (and Back Out Again)

Apologies for the absence; I’ve been traveling in Georgia, that mysterious little post-Soviet Eden on the Black Sea. And as post-Soviet things tend to do, the republic is slowly crumbling, from pockmarked, torn-up stretches of sidewalk on Rustaveli Avenue, the main street of Tbilisi and the most important street in the country, to the Tbilisi metro, which in form looks like a rundown mimicry of the St. Petersburg metro and in size resembles a model train set. But the food is delicious, even the alcohol, which ranges from red wine to the stiff Georgian white wine, a de facto hard liquor, to the grape-based vodka “cha cha.”

And the people are the friendliest I’ve met so far in the former Soviet Union, priding themselves on their maxim, “Guests are a gift from God,” and inviting this traveler into their homes on more than one occasion.

In short, a charming place, which is why it’s hard to watch as its already scarce territory is sliced away by Russia, which has played on Abkhazia’s half-baked dreams of independence and poured its settlers and then its troops into South Ossetia in August 2008. These troops have yet to withdraw from the new swaths of territory they conquered.

The August war is never far from mind. On Rustaveli, there’s still folks living in tent-like “cells” to protest the rule of Misha Saakashvili, who is either loved or hated by each citizen of Georgia in his turn. An American government employee I met in Tbilisi blamed Saakashvili for the August 2008 war, saying he had misinterpreted signals from Washington and gotten overexcited to win back his country’s territory, but also noted that the Georgians don’t have anyone better to lead them at the moment.

When I went to Georgia in the second week of July, word was that a new war was soon to break out …

I’m not the only one who noticed McCain’s use of the term “KGB”

I noticed John McCain bandying about the term “KGB” during the first presidential debate:

“Russia has now become a nation fueled by petro-dollars that is basically a KGB apparatchik-run government.  I looked into Mr. Putin’s eyes, and I saw three letters, a “K,” a “G,” and a “B.” And their aggression in Georgia is not acceptable behavior.”

Just a little Russophile sidenote here, the KGB ended after the breakup.  It’s the FSB these days.

McCain technically isn’t incorrect, since many of Putin’s cronies cut their teeth in the KGB during the Soviet era.  I also understand candidates have to couch their rhetoric in terms that will be understood by virtually everyone (and this line indeed earned scattered applause).  But given McCain’s frequent use of this term, I wouldn’t be surprised if McCain had no inkling about this distinction. Indeed, this represents the rotted core of our Russia policy – a bullheaded ignorance of and refusal to try to understand the Russian mentality, which is based on its unique location, history and culture. A legacy of inferiority complex is being lived out here, just as it has been for hundreds of years.

In a great post on McCain, blogger Ivanov goes further to make the case that such statements indicate “McCain sees the world not as it is, but as he chooses to remember it.”  A scary thought about the man who might be president.

Also interesting: In this debate, Barack Obama said he and McCain “agree for the most part” on Russian issues.  Most Russians support Obama because they believe (probably rightly) that McCain will be antagonistic toward Russia.  This comment, were it picked up by the Russian media, would likely shake their support.

Peace, love and Russian rock ‘n’ roll

DDT fans light another round of road flares at a musical peak during the band's concert. Photo by Matt Stephenson.

Last night we saw DDT, the cherished Russian band led by rock prophet Yuri Yulianovich Shevchuk.

Like some sort of well-respected hippie grandfather, Shevchuk preached an age-old gospel of love, peace and rock ‘n’ roll to his younger following, who wore his likeness on their T-shirts, waved flags emblazoned with the black-and-white “DDT” logo, and chanted the band’s slogan, taken from a line in the closing song: «Не стреляй!» (“Ne strelyai!”) — “Don’t shoot!”

In all the excitement, some attendees even experimented with low-impact moshing, although DDT’s brand of dreamy, uplifting classic rock hardly lends itself to extended “slam” sessions.

Slightly disheveled and beaming from beneath bifocals, a three-day growth of stubble and a shock of dark brown hair, Shevchyk ministered to his flock like a youth outreach pastor, condemning the war in Georgia and trumpeting the virtues of peace and understanding.

A sample of his rhetoric (translated from the Russian): “God created man for peace, not for war. Everything is in balance, against the evil one.”

To this effect, a local poet, bearded and robed like an Russian-Orthodox priest, emerged mid-set to declaim for several minutes on the theme of international brotherhood. This was one of several interruptions during the concert, as two “opening” bands also came out at different points to play their own brief sets.

The heady encore was followed by an Altamont-style crush of people at the narrow exit, as young men braced themselves against the wall to create a passage for their girlfriends. “Girls forward!” they cried as the masses poured out into the dark pathways and shimmering lakes of the unlit Park of Victory, phantom images of road flares burning into their retinas and the chant of “Ne strelyai!” echoing in their ears.

Who cares who started it?

On the debate sparked by Georgian recordings purporting to show that Russian troops invaded first:

Start by realizing it was disadvantageous for the Georgians to storm South Ossetia regardless of whether there was already a Russian invasion underway. Because of Russia’s clear military presence (and therefore dominance) in the region — Russian planes had been overflying Georgia for months — the Georgians really should have realized what a colossal blunder they were making.  Maybe they did and felt they had no choice, moving in a last-attempt bid to win quickly and seal off South Ossetia from Russia via the Roki Tunnel.

In the end, who really cares who started it? Both sides have been aching to throw down for South Ossetia since long before shells started falling. Since at least January, Medvedev/Putin and Saakashvili have been shuffling their military forces around the region like impetuous Battleship players impatient to start calling out shots, with ominous but under-reported trash talk to match their posturing.

The only real mystery is why.  Because of this conflict, Tbilisi has lost any chance at control of South Ossetia, and Moscow now has to commit even more money and resources to the war-torn region.  Saakashvili looks like too much of a hothead for the prim-and-proper NATO kids, and Medvedev/Putin are still the rabid dog scaring the citizens of the international community.  Talk about senseless loss of life.

Why is it that the biggest political stage so often resembles the smallest, i.e. the playground?

“C-1!”  “Hit!”

Was Russia in the right?

From “Georgia Offers Fresh Evidence on War’s Start” at NYTimes.com:

“But at a minimum, the intercepted calls, which senior American officials have reviewed and described as credible if not conclusive, suggest there were Russian military movements earlier than had previously been acknowledged, whether routine or hostile, into Georgian territory as tensions accelerated toward war.”

Uhh-ohhh…  I was just talking to my Russian friend who strongly believes, like most Russians, that the Kremlin intervened only after the fact to protect the South Ossetians from Georgian aggression.  She condemned the loss of life on all sides, but still felt Russia was justified in invading, since “Georgia started it.”  We’ll have to see if the grayscale picture emerging here shakes up such black-and-white views…

Georgia debate continued …

So it turns out that Kirill, the juggling bartender pictured below, is from North Ossetia, the Russian counterpart to the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia. For him, the conflict has struck close to home, with bombs at one point falling a mere 15 kilometers from his parents’ house.

Nevertheless, his view on the situation was pragmatic: Let South Ossetia stay in Georgia, or at least not be absorbed into Russia, which South Ossetian officials have stated will be the province’s eventual fate (incidentally, this article’s headline, “Kremlin announces that South Ossetia will join ‘one united Russian state’”, is false and misleading; a South Ossetian official made this statement.  Let no one doubt that the American media can be quick to condemn Russia).

Kirill feels that with the Russian government already forced to shuffle large amounts of money and resources from rich urban areas to the poorer and sometimes conflict-ridden parts of the country (like the Caucuses), South Ossetia would only be a greater burden for Russia.

At a time of such fervent nationalism at home (in Russia, Georgia, America, South Ossetia and Abkhazia) and political brinksmanship on the international stage, a clearheaded analysis like this is refreshing. See fellow Russia blogger Siberian Light’s recent post for similarly practical observations.