Article

2005-01-25 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

New Ukranian Prez Risks Ticking Off Russkies: Pouting Putty

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Captain America 2005-01-25 00:00:00 AM|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I bet he didn't stay for lunch.

Posted by Grunter 2005-01-25 12:31:18 AM|| 2005-01-25 12:31:18 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 "Soup? Why yes, it does look delicious...but I'll pass, all the same."

Posted by Seafarious 2005-01-25 12:41:08 AM|| 2005-01-25 12:41:08 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Putin's not in control of his own government. It's unlikely that he'll finish out his term. I'd say that Yushchenko, if he's patient and plays his cards right, will end with a much stronger hand in 3 years than he currently has in his dealings with Moscow. We'd be wise to let the Kremlin know that we know this.

Posted by lex 2005-01-25 12:55:15 AM|| 2005-01-25 12:55:15 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Putin's not in control of his own government. It's unlikely that he'll finish out his term.

You've said that before, but I don't remember you providing any datapoints to back it up.

I'd urge Yushchenko to be extremely *impatient* at pushing forward reform. Recent Eastern European history has shown that it's the nation that speeded up, like Poland and Estonia that solidified their western democratic orientation. The ones that were "patient", like Kazakhstan, Moldova, and so forth, just regressed to oligarchic tyranny.

With a murderous-imperialist tyranny still nearby, it's imperative that Yushchenko moves as quickly as possibly to have his country break away from the Russian sphere and cleanse away as much of the Kremlin-Kuchma corruption as quickly as possible.

Posted by Aris Katsaris 2005-01-25 1:18:22 AM|| [http://www.livejournal.com/~katsaris/] 2005-01-25 1:18:22 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 A further point: given a largely horrid "election package reform" pushed forward just before the rerun election, large powers of the president will be moved to the Parliament the next year.

Yushchenko doesn't have five, or four, or three years to push forward reform. He has only one. (that's, btw, why I've called the Orange Revolution a very *partial* victory, rather than the triumph for democracy others consider it). He needs to break the corruption instituted by the old regime as much as possible before the next parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for 2006.

Posted by Aris Katsaris 2005-01-25 1:29:00 AM|| [http://www.livejournal.com/~katsaris/] 2005-01-25 1:29:00 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 Is Yulia somehow related to Marshall Semyon Timoshenko? Just curious.

Posted by 11A5S 2005-01-25 2:17:22 AM|| 2005-01-25 2:17:22 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 Did "patient" countries regress because of patience, or did their leaders counsel "patience" because they wanted to regress?

Is "patience" a code-word for opposition?

Posted by Dishman 2005-01-25 3:06:38 PM|| 2005-01-25 3:06:38 PM|| Front Page Top

10:57 nostradamus
10:47 nostradamus
23:58 trailing wife
23:57 trailing wife
23:53 Alaska Paul
23:53 3dc
23:50 Alaska Paul
23:44 Alaska Paul
23:44 smn
23:34 Jame Retief
23:30 Sock Puppet of Doom
23:27 Sock Puppet of Doom
23:24 Sike Mylwester
23:24 Zhang Fei
23:22 Zhang Fei
23:18 Sock Puppet of Doom
23:18 Sobieky
23:17 Sobieky
23:16 Sock Puppet of Doom
23:09 badanov
22:57 Sobieky
22:53 Cat D12
22:49 Mike Sylwester
22:46 Mike Sylwester