http://russian-front.com Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:00:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This morning's Washington Post contains an editorial by Murray Feshbach on the massive internal challenges that confront the Russian Federation as its leaders struggle to re-establish their country as a global superpower. In "Behind the Bluster, Russia is Collapsing," Feshbach points to the volatile economic situation facing the nation's oil-dependent economy ... http://russian-front.com/2008/10/05/house-of-cards/ Against the backdrop of the late summer invasion of Georgia, the announced annexation of South Ossetia, and the Russian state's ongoing efforts to expand military and economic influence into South and Central America comes a minor event that offers a slightly different perspective on the degree of Russia's military resurgence. A ... http://russian-front.com/2008/10/02/a-letter-to-the-minister-of-defense/ My friends and colleagues down the I-70 at the History Department of the Command and General Staff College have a new blog. Though the focus is generally on American military history, there's some very interesting stuff. To my mind, standouts include Scott Stephenson on the present eclipse but ... http://russian-front.com/2008/09/28/new-blog/ Defense Secretary Robert Gates may have come up with the quote of the decade: "At this point I should note that for the first time, both the United States secretary of state and secretary of defense have doctorates in Russian studies. A fat lot of good that's done us." To Gates' ... http://russian-front.com/2008/09/20/a-fat-lot-of-good/ I'm cognizant of the danger of sounding like a broken record, but Kosovo KEEPS COMING BACK.  It's like the villain in a bad horror movie. Two quick points on the recognition of S. Ossetia and Abkhazia. First, is there a clear difference of principle between the recognition of Kosovo and the recognition ... http://russian-front.com/2008/08/27/recognition-of-s-ossetia-and-abkhazia/ Remember my speculation about cyberattacks on Georgia? Turns out it did in fact happen. http://russian-front.com/2008/08/12/denial-of-service/ Mark Grimsley has a piece on his search for historical analogies to the war in Ossetia. I've been having trouble coming up with one, and I think one of the key facts about this conflict is the reason. The important point here, and the flaw with the ... http://russian-front.com/2008/08/12/ossetia-the-search-for-analogies/ I've written a more formal version of my previous posting on South Ossetia for the History News Network, and I've copied it in below: Roundup: Historians' Take David R. Stone: Blowback in South Ossetia Source: Special to HNN (8-11-08) [Dr. David R. Stone is a professor of history at Kansas State University.] There is a ... http://russian-front.com/2008/08/11/blowback-in-south-ossetia/ Many precedents have been invoked over South Ossetia: I've noted the pernicious influence of Kosovo; others have raised Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan. I'd like to look instead at the precedent for what Georgian President Saakashvili wanted to happen, not what he's ended up with: Croatia's August 1995 Operation Storm. Using military forces trained ... http://russian-front.com/2008/08/09/what-was-saakashvili-thinking-perhaps-croatia/ First thoughts on South Ossetia My overwhelming impression of events in South Ossetia is the enormous difficulty of sorting out what's actually going on from conflicting accounts coming out of Georgia and Russia. Everything said below is highly preliminary and based on fragmentary information. For example, Russian media are claiming 1) ... http://russian-front.com/2008/08/08/first-thoughts-on-south-ossetia/