cross-eyed and mirrored, too - part four...

in case you were wondering - as i did - if the case of the crimea wasn't similar to that of

a b k h a z i a   ( g e o r g i a )   in 2008, when russia invaded 

it's southern neighbor's territory and left it with russia's influence over abkhazia secured - is putin on a geopolitical shopping tour? does he have to be stopped? are we watching the first dominoes falling? or are there any significant differences? should the eu or the us have stepped in back then, too?

interesting article and...
4 reasons why crimea is not abkhazia

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Cavaliere - Ritter der unterdrückten Mehrheitsmeinung...

Franz Geyling Der tapfere Retter 1856

7 Punkte, wie man zum Ritter der unterdrückten Mehrheitsmeinung wird - und damit richtig Kohle macht 

1. Suchen Sie sich eine Minderheit, auf der sich gut herumhacken lässt. Sie haben die Wahl: Homosexuelle, Migranten, Hartz-IV-Empfänger.

Tipp: Am besten eine, die keine Lobby hinter sich hat 
Achtung! Frauen sind zwar keine Minderheit, aber das mit dem Herumhacken hat ja trotzdem immer funktioniert. Das hat sich jetzt aber erschwert. Vorsicht ist geboten. Terrororganisationen wie Emma oder Twitter pfuschen gern dazwischen. Ersteres hat sich jetzt wohl von selbst erledigt, an letzterem arbeiten wir noch. Vielleicht lässt sich ja doch noch was von der türkischen Regierung den Türken lernen.

2. Wenn Sie mit dem Schreiben anfangen, betonen Sie gleich am Anfang, dass Sie nichts gegen die gewählte Minderheit per se haben...

weiter hier, dem 'Freitag' sei dank...



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"idealism will be replaced by economic calculation..." (fukuyama)

where are the brilliant ideologues out there, the people that really have the future in their hearts?

Too distracted to save the world? Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

an interesting piece by eliane glaser on the guardian about fukuyama's goodbye to history 25 years ago...

Bring back ideology

(article in english)

"The "post-ideology" sleight of hand nevertheless continues. "The markets", which he hailed as the engine of progress, were and are talked about as "natural" – as if they were forces of gravity or Darwinian evolution. They are believed to impose "realistic" limits on policy; political prioritising hides behind practical references to the "public purse". "This is the sober reality I must set out for the country today," David Cameron said in June 2010, announcing his plan for cuts in public spending. "We are not doing this because we want to, driven by theory or ideology … We are doing this because we have to."

"While I recognize the ideological subterfuge (the markets as "natural"), there is a broader aspect to Fukuyama's essay that I admire, and cannot analyse away. It ends with a surprisingly poignant passage: "The end of history will be a very sad time. The struggle for recognition, the willingness to risk one's life for a purely abstract goal, the worldwide ideological struggle that called forth daring, courage, imagination, and idealism, will be replaced by economic calculation, the endless solving of technical problems, environmental concerns, and the satisfaction of sophisticated consumer demands."

It is hard not to conclude that this passage offers an accurate portrait of our age"

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cross-eyed and mirrored, too - part three...

russische außenpolitik der letzten jahre.

ultra-condensed, aber eine gute übersicht.

und immer noch nur ein teil der ganzen geschichte. die perspektive der ehemaligen satellitenstaaten sowie der russischen minderheiten und der postimperialen abwicklung der ehemaligen Sowjetrepubliken generell sind noch unbeleuchtet...

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cross-eyed and mirrored, too - part two...

russische fundamentaldaten, ultrakompakt.

you got 10 minutes?

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leopard...

a white lung leopard lady & an animal crew with ten ton trucks in their fingers...
can you dig it?


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cross-eyed and mirrored, too - part one...

a good overview on 4 different views on crimea from a washington post blog...


"What follows, therefore, is my attempt not to conclusively answer the question of Putin’s motivation, but rather to lay out a framework for thinking about the different explanations that are out there. I believe this is an important exercise because the different explanations also imply different implications for what is likely to happen in the future, as well as how various international responses are likely to affect subsequent developments"

click here:

try me 

(english)

and some embellishment...

source

source

even with four different prospectives, there is a lot of information missing, though... namely the russian experience with post cold war deescalation, russia's factual incapability to place itselft on the same level with the west on legal and economic grounds (and having therefore to rely on "realpolitik"), the nationalist antirussian backlash in romania, moldavia, ucraina and the sensitive situation of russian minorities in these states...

maybe i can find some kind of overview on these issues

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riverbed...

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2 minuten.

dann hat er dich.

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aaw, shit...