tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673758362916429937.post6516461829287586910..comments2024-03-22T20:18:45.865+11:00Comments on Jack Lacton: How the Georgian conflict really startedJack Lactonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07297939283546740918noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673758362916429937.post-7190559427995261532008-09-03T17:46:00.000+10:002008-09-03T17:46:00.000+10:00Kevo,I lived in Moscow for 18 months when I was gr...Kevo,<BR/><BR/>I lived in Moscow for 18 months when I was growing up. It left an indelible impression on me and in Putin I see the resurrection of imperial Russia (as distinct from communist Russia).Jack Lactonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07297939283546740918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673758362916429937.post-73084554523998686762008-08-29T14:56:00.000+10:002008-08-29T14:56:00.000+10:00JackAgree the Totten piece makes a fascinating re-...Jack<BR/><BR/>Agree the Totten piece makes a fascinating re-write of the conventional wisdom on the recent developments, and look forward to the WSJ link in a quiter moment.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps not surprisingly for a KGB Old Boy, Putin turns out to be an old school Russian strong arm nationalist with the historic Russian ambitions to run the Grand Game in the Caucasus.<BR/><BR/>Hollywood leads us to believe that the spy satellites can read a car number plate in Red Square, so either the Pentagon was aware of the Russian Army massing and on the move south through the Roki Tunnel - or we have some really serious concerns about degraded American intelligence capability ?<BR/><BR/>Putin clearly has cojones and ambition; he has vast energy wealth to prop up his budget; an army and airforce with experience in Caucasus warfare and tromping unco-operative locals; and a full suite of nuclear weapons to keep everyone focussed on the bigger picture.<BR/><BR/>Quite where this all goes in the near term is anyone's guess right now ?<BR/><BR/>But your earlier piece about plunging birth rates in Europe and elsewhere perhaps tells us that an aging, collapsing population will ultimately constrain Russia's ambitions. <BR/><BR/>When every son and daughter becomes increasingly rare and needed for valuable economic and social functions back home - sending bold imperial expeditionary forces across the map looks every more untenable.<BR/><BR/>The emptying maternity wards of Russia may eventually apply a brake to Russian ambition that few external powers ever could. We live in hope.Myrddin Serenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08317977669677726888noreply@blogger.com