In an ironic twist for me, I awarded a Republic of Georgia national jersey to the soccer coach working with me to launch a new soccer club (the new little hobby that has consumed me the last two months). We used the specific red in the Georgia’s flag for the logo design of the new club. All of this was the first I’d really thought of this nation in my life. Since I handed Coach David that jersey, his homeland has been in upheaval, his brother was called into active duty since he was slightly under 50 years of age, even though he’d only recently had open-heart surgery. He was raised as a Georgian Soviet, played football professionally in the Soviet Union, and won what would now be the Champions League back in the 1980’s.
So Russia has been at war with this nation over the last week, and today a cease fire has been announced. Should we care about any of this?
Not only should we care about all of this, but we should be stunned by both the turn of events as well as anxious about the next decade.
Georgia was one of the few nations who joined the US in Iraq, brought to our collective attention when 2,000 troops were ordered back to Georgia this past week. They have pursued NATO membership, wishing to join the ranks of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Slovakia among others. President Bush was the first and only US president ever to visit the Republic of Georgia.
Regardless of who exactly did what to start this, Russia has been waging war against Georgia over the last week. The US response seems to have been limited to chatting at the Olympics between Bush and Putin, as well as some sort of assistance to get the 2,000 Georgian troops from Iraq back to Georgia.
The aftermath of all this is much more important than the actual incident, with my apologies to the families of soldiers and civilians who lost their lives in Georgia this week. Georgia is a relatively new ally of the US, much like Pakistan for that matter. What exactly does that buy you in our new world order? Who sets our foreign policy when it comes to our alliances, the President or Congress? And how exactly should all of this work in the future?
Obviously, the US did not come to the defense of our dear friends, the Georgians. We did not cut off diplomatic ties with Russia, did not send in aircraft to support the troops. What have we told Russia, France, England, India, Pakistan, North Korea, China, Uganda, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Vietnam, Serbia, and countless others around the world?
No, the 21st Century is a much more complex one when it comes to good and evil, friend and foe. Throw in diminishing raw materials and a finite energy supply, and we have indeed entered into a world of fractured misunderstanding. We have only a hint of realization that we poorly understand these sub-nations, these emerging places of interest.
We had a severe problem once at the Aerospace company I worked in when we lived in Phoenix, and the CEO had a day where everyone would “Stand Down.” Basically, we took a day where everyone stopped to focus on our core problem, much as he said the Navy would do in a time of crisis.
In the midst of this Election period and the aftermath of Iraq and this crisis in Georgia, it is time for a “Stand Down” for our leaders; really, for all of us.
October 15th, 2008 at 3:21 am
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