Wednesday-Night

Welcome home to all the summer’s happy wanderers. We have missed you - and you have missed some fascinating evenings - and look forward to catching up with your news, along with your thoughts on The News as it unfolds.
Speaking of unfolding,-  or more accurately, unravelling -, the Republican Convention will surely go down in […]

This fascinating counter view of the respective roles of the belligerents and those of the U.S. and the U.K. is a must-read. Pay close attention also to the comments regarding China.
From a neighboring state, the view of recent events in Georgia is somewhat different.
A few points for you to consider:
1. Neither Abkhazia, nor South Ossetia […]

The Medvedev Doctrine and American Strategy
(Stratfor) The fifth point is the critical one: “As is the case of other countries, there are regions in which Russia has privileged interests.” In other words, the Russians have special interests in the former Soviet Union and in friendly relations with these states. Intrusions by others into these regions […]

Following last Wednesday Night’s Canada-focused (healthcare, the NDP and environment) evening, we are looking forward to reviewing matters beyond our borders in the company of Carole and Rodrigue Tremblay. Dr. Tremblay, an economist, is a former Quebec Minister of Industry and Commerce, and  has published 27 books, most of them dealing with finance and economics while […]

By M.D. Nalapat
Column: Future Present
Published: August 12, 2008
(UPI Asia Online) Manipal, India - The Soviet Union became a superpower during the rule of Josef Stalin, who terrorized those territories that he did not immediately annex. After the 1939-45 war, the USSR controlled Eastern Europe and challenged the primacy of the United States […]

Wednesday Night’s West Wing holds its fifth session August 13th. Alexandra and James have set up a beautiful new website  for our Wednesday Night sibling and even better news, Alex will be with us next week!
Russia & Georgia
Media Scout had the best headline Opening Ceremonies, Open War for its daily roundup of Canadian media takes […]

Enlarged map and notes
See also Arctic and Antarctic
(BBC) British scientists say they have drawn up the first detailed map to show areas in the Arctic that could become embroiled in future border disputes.
A team from Durham University compiled the outline of potential hotspots by basing the design on historical and ongoing arguments over ownership.
Russian […]

(Strategic Forecasting Inc.) Kosovo, Russia and the West
2007 saw the resurgence of a long-dormant issue: independence for Serbia’s breakaway province of Kosovo. The tiny region is a key pressure point on the fault line between Russia and the West.
The subject of independence for Kosovo is re-emerging as a serious issue. The West seems intent on […]

July 31, 2008
(FT) Russia plans to form a state grain trading company to control up to half of the country’s cereal exports, intensifying fears that Moscow wants to use food exports as a diplomatic weapon in the same way as Gazprom has manipulated natural gas sales.
The move by Moscow, the world’s fifth-biggest exporter of cereals, […]

July 22
China and Russia are anything but natural partners. While their economic interests may seem complementary, geography dictates that their actual connections will be sharply limited. Moreover, in their roles of resource provider versus producer, they actually have a commercial relationship analogous to that of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries versus the United […]