"It's all going to hell,''
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
This Russian-Georgian war that is presently being fought is actually part of a Grand Chess Game being played out right in front of your eyes. The players are making strategic moves to grow or to try to offset America's corporatist global empire. Sure Georgia wants S. Ossetia and S. Ossetia wants to be independent. But in order to really understand what the war is about we need to go back in history and read what Barack Obama's key international adviser has to say about America's empire and where the empire game needs to be played.
But first some news on the Russian-Georgian war and a little background.
Georgia, the homeland of Stalin and once part of the Soviet Union, attacked its breakaway province of S. Ossetia. Russia, declaring the region independent, responded with massive force attacking Georgia. Now Abkhazia, another Georgia breakaway zone, has declared war on Georgia today. The latest news as of this writing is that Georgia, pleading for American help, has declared a cease fire and has withdrawn from S. Ossetia
Russian jets, after the Russian-Georgian war started, bombed the (BTC) Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. which starts from the oil fields of the Caspian Sea in Azerbeijan and in part runs about 60 miles south of S. Osetia and continues onto Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea where it is shipped to an energy hungry West. All of this you will note bypasses Russia. This pipeline carries 1% of the world's oil supply and it is an essential part of a future strategy for the Western world to gain access to oil from Central Asia, in which the reserves are estimated to be one of the largest in the world. Nearly 70% of the pipeline was funded by the World Bank.
Georgia is working to become a member of NATO and it has shown its good faith by supplying the 3rd largest army in Iraq, behind the United States and Great Britain. But with the start of the Russian-Georgian war the Georgians have had to take those troops home.
So this is the way the war seems to have gone so far.
But wars don't just arise out of nothing. Instead this war has its roots in the fall of the Soviet Union and America's position as the last empire standing. You probably weren't surprised to learn that oil fuels the conflict but the real issue is global supremacy and the future of the American empire.
So why doesn't Russia just leave poor Georgia alone and let it control S. Ossetia?
Well it is a Grand Game and in order to really understand what is going on we have to go back to 1997 and take a look at Zbigniew Brezinski's book "The Grand Chessboard"
Brezinski is the key International Adviser to Barak Obama. He was the former National Security Adviser to President Jimmy Carter (1977-81), Trustee and founder of the Trilateral Commission, One of Kissinger's boys, and international advisor of several major US/Global corporations.
Here is what Brezinski writes in his book:
.....“The momentum of Asia's economic development is already generating massive pressures for the exploration and exploitation of new sources of energy and the Central Asian region and the Caspian Sea basin are known to contain reserves of natural gas and oil that dwarf those of Kuwait, the Gulf of Mexico, or the North Sea...." (p.125)
".....But the Eurasian Balkans are infinitely more important as a potential economic prize: an enormous concentration of natural gas and oil reserves is located in the region, in addition to important minerals, including gold...." (p.124)
".....It follows that America's primary interest is to help ensure that no single power comes to control this geopolitical space and that the global community has unhindered financial and economic access to it...." (p148)
"....Two basic steps are thus required: first, to identify the geostrategically dynamic Eurasian states that have the power to cause a potentially important shift in the international distribution of power and to decipher the central external goals of their respective political elites and the likely consequences of their seeking to attain them;... second, to formulate specific U.S. policies to offset, co-opt, and/or control the above..." (p. 40)
"...To put it in a terminology that harkens back to the more brutal age of ancient empires, the three grand imperatives of imperial geostrategy are to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together...." (p.40)
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But that's what oil's for.
So let me get this straight. I would like to leave the place in better shape than when I was born for my children's children's children's children. The Indians ,whom we ran off, used to think in terms of seven generations ahead and I only mentioned four. by tjb (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 255 comments [9 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008 at 8:48:16 AM  (0+)
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Reply: Relax, look on the bright side . . .
there is still more oil being made every few thousand years -- a few drops at a time. Furthermore, with warmer ocean temperatures, some plankton and zooplankton grow faster so we may be instrumental in increasing production! Just 1 degree difference can increase growth by 20+%. Of course the organisms that thrive in warmer water are often antagonistic to those who prefer cooler conditions. Survival of the fittest in action. So take heart. The universe has a plan and purpose for all of us. . . by sometimes blinded (4 articles, 106 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 614 comments [51 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008 at 9:12:49 AM (0+)
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Reply: Sure, don't worry,
if and when the conflict gets out of hand, those of us who aren't disintegrated or reduced to ash in the initial explosions will become a part of one of the next generation of petroleum fields. by John Sanchez Jr. (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 25 diaries, 1791 comments [148 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008 at 6:58:51 PM (0+)
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You have the refrence of barbarian
termed to the wrong country in your article. It was Georgia that initiated the acts of aggression against a sovereign state. Russia is aiding its neighbor in an illegal pre-emptive incursion. Just like Georgia broke away from the former USSR so its people could govern themselves, so to the people of Odessa want to have the same privilege. The US should keep its hands off of other country's affairs and resources, and respect differing thoughts of opinion in regards to matters that don't pertain to the US. A more responsible approach for the US to take is stop supplying the world as the #1 weapons dealer to the world, and not think its citizens have the right to use over 35% of the world's resources while making up less than 10% of the world's population. I don't own a car and use public transportation, wash my clothes by hand and air dry them. What have you done as a citizen to reduce your carbon footprint? So, as to make the USA more energy efficient and less reliant of foreign oil. by Stanimal (2 articles, 226 quicklinks, 38 diaries, 1253 comments [232 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008 at 4:29:57 PM (0+)
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Reply: Re: Barbarian
I think you missed the point of that. According to Brezinski's quote the vasals (Georgia) were doing the will of the Empire against the Barbarians (Russia). I have a great deal of admiration for Putin. I greatly admire the Russian culture and spirit. I have some hope that Russia can be a force to stand up to the present Evil Empire (Globalization). The Oligarchs in this country are pissed off at what Putin did to the Oligarchs in his own country. I only wish we could find someone that loved America more than the dollar bill. Unfortunately when people are able to gain a following and make a stand they usually get shot, or the plane crashes, or something unfortunate happens. by Grant Lawrence (97 articles, 100 quicklinks, 45 diaries, 296 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008 at 7:39:17 PM (0+)
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The New Direction
The corporate structure tends to reward the status-quo. It is the manifestation of collectivism. I have noticed compartmentalization and psyhic disasociation are the weaknesses and side effects of this order. Compound this with corporate mergers and one begins to see cracks form in the foundation and chaotic memos unending justifing position in a hierarchy of invented titles and job desciptions. The individuated self is the true source of ideas and creativity. At the table sits collectivism and across the chess-board the individual. Which do you think will take the others King? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd3zZa5xGgM by Keystone (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 299 comments [78 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Aug 13, 2008 at 1:08:35 AM (0+)
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Reply: Collectivism and Individualism
" I have noticed compartmentalization and psyhic disasociation are the weaknesses and side effects of this order." Very interesting and perhaps a type of insane collectivism in which groups feast on the whole of society. Individualism by itself also has its problems. A society with checks and balances in which the individual rights have some sort of protection (the middle way in a Buddhist application) would be the most sound. I think that is what we were aiming at in the constitution. by Grant Lawrence (97 articles, 100 quicklinks, 45 diaries, 296 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Aug 13, 2008 at 6:28:42 PM (0+)
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