12th August 2008, 01:50 PM
Posted by BAJR Host:
It is true that Georgia is probably more democratic than Russia, but also that its government is accused of ethnic chauvinism. The story from the other side appears to be of minorities that are allegedly in danger of 'ethnic cleansing' by the Georgians.
It suits us in the West to sympathise with separatist minorities when they are struggling against a medium-sized country we don't like, and then we encourage a superpower to bomb the baddies (Kosovo, Serbia and the US anyone?). If we are politically in sympathy with the medium-sized country and out of sympathy with the superpower concerned, then all of a sudden we forget about the allegedly oppressed minority (Georgia, Russia and the non-Georgian inhabitants of South Ossetia or Abkhazia).
I'm not saying that Russia is in the right here, or that Georgia is in the wrong - just that we can't tell from the way it has been reported so far.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished
Quote:quote:Georgia is a fledgling democracy that?s being battered by Russian aggression and needs our support!I think the situation is more complicated than that, and it is really hard to pick out right from wrong in the very one-sided reporting we have seen so far in the UK.
It is true that Georgia is probably more democratic than Russia, but also that its government is accused of ethnic chauvinism. The story from the other side appears to be of minorities that are allegedly in danger of 'ethnic cleansing' by the Georgians.
It suits us in the West to sympathise with separatist minorities when they are struggling against a medium-sized country we don't like, and then we encourage a superpower to bomb the baddies (Kosovo, Serbia and the US anyone?). If we are politically in sympathy with the medium-sized country and out of sympathy with the superpower concerned, then all of a sudden we forget about the allegedly oppressed minority (Georgia, Russia and the non-Georgian inhabitants of South Ossetia or Abkhazia).
I'm not saying that Russia is in the right here, or that Georgia is in the wrong - just that we can't tell from the way it has been reported so far.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished