| JackMatlock.com |
Here and Now
- A BLOG
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Though I spend a lot of my time thinking about the past, particularly how we ended the Cold War peacefully, it is more important to think about the future and how we are preparing for it. Friends and news organizations often call for my reactions to important events. I will try to record here some of the thoughts that occur to me as I struggle to apply my past experience to the problems of today.
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| From the Tennessee Farm | OR | the Princeton Place, | OR | some other place (Antarctica, 2001) |
Oxford Professor Archie Brown, who has written several insightful studies of Gorbachev and, most recently, a much acclaimed The Rise and Fall of Communism, summarized in a recent posting what he considers Gorbachev’s twelve most significant achievements.
He points out that the list is not exhaustive (there were other changes for the better), but the following are twelve fundamental breaks with the Soviet past which Russia and the world owes primarily to Gorbachev: (more…)
Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union, will turn 80 on March 2. It is remarkable to me that so many of his compatriots fail to recognize his contribution to some of the most momentous changes in world politics. Bearing this in mind, I have sent him the message below. For those who suspect that I am just “being nice,” I would emphasize that I believe every word in the message and I do not think any of the phrases I use distort or embellish the truth. Here is what I said: (more…)
Today’s New York Times has an article that points up a positive aspect of Wikileaks… the opportunity for the public to appreciate the cogent analysis and creative writing of the U.S. Foreign Service. But perhaps the future impact of the leaks will go well beyond a new respect for under-appreciated diplomats.
Reading these leaked reports gives me the impression of a world-wide fraternity, as if the diplomatic world was the venue for a global high stakes invitation-only poker game. Wikileaks has meant that one of the players (or was it the dealer?) has just dropped his cards on the table and also opened the blinds to the outside. From the outside looking in, it seems that everyone in the room is talking and joking with each other, posturing as they play their hand. The overall impression of the world of the decision makers is one of competitive fraternity, not a world of irreconcilable uncommunicative factions, as the media or ideological purists might portray it, but a world of players in a shared social space. Contemplating the existence of that common space, I find hope for potential solutions to the world’s “intractable” problems.
Sofia, Bulgaria, October 7, 2010
I was asked to speak on problems in the Caucasus at the New Political Forum organized by the Gorbachev Foundation in Sofia. Although I am by no means an expert on the Caucasus, I tried to apply our experience in ending the Cold War to the present situation. Here is a summary of my observations:
At present, though most fighting has stopped, the peace is tenuous in the Caucasus and many questions loom over the future. It is clear that the area has not benefited from the end of the Cold War. Neither Georgia nor the areas that have declared their independence have been able to turn independence into peace and progress for their people. (more…)
Booneville
Those of us spending our August out in the boonies may have missed the blog frenzy emanating from Washington the past few weeks predicting that Israel is insisting on bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities to remove an “existential threat.” If the U.S. is not willing to do so, the story line goes, Israel will have to do the job itself. (more…)
A friend has called my attention to an article in the August 12 issue of the Washington Times. The article strikes me as more propaganda than analysis. I’ll explain why as I quote the article, which follows: (more…)
An article by Ahto Lobjakas of the RFE/RL research unit shows how far Georgian policy is from the sort of concessions that Dmitri Trenin recommended. (See previous post.)
Instead of engaging with the populations of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as EU representatives have recommended, the Georgian government seems to have chosen political confrontation. This is likely to tie both regions closer to Russia and to militate against a settlement that could permit some Georgian refugees to return to their homes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Former ambassador Dennis Jett published a thoughtful op-ed Sunday about the media entertainers and politicians who call themselves “conservatives” these days. I consider them propagandists for an ideology which is, in many respects, the opposite of conservative as the word is normally understood. It is not “conservative” in any sense to invent facts, but they do it all the time. It is not even conservative to exaggerate, but it is hard to find a value judgment by these propagandists which is not either manifestly false or a gross exaggeration. For that reason, I usually take exception to labeling them “conservatives,” but with that reservation I agree with Ambassador Jett’s comments, which I reproduce below: (more…)