Razboiul Rece nu s-a terminat
The Cold War never ended. Just ask Vladimir Putin.
Putin has a couple valid points, especially regarding the illegitimacy of the Iraq war. To counter, though, here's John McCain, quoted in the New York Times:
“Will Russia’s autocratic turn become more pronounced, its foreign policy more opposed to the principles of the Western democracies and its energy policy used as a tool of intimidation?” he asked. “Moscow must understand that it cannot enjoy a genuine partnership with the West so long as its actions, at home and abroad, conflict fundamentally with the core values of the Euro-Atlantic democracies.”
But what really bothered me about the article, especially considering the quality of the Times, is this paragraph:
The United Nations is weighing a proposal that would put Kosovo on the path to independence from Serbia, which Russia opposes because it fears that such a move could upset its own turbulent relations with ethnic groups in the Caucasus. Russia has crushed one separatist-minded people within its own borders, in Chechnya, but supports two breakaway regions in Georgia: Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Excuse me, but Russia supports a third breakaway region, and it's in Moldova. Why does the Transnistria problem continue to get absolutely no acknowledgement in the Western media?
Labels: America, Russia, Transnistria
posted by Peter Myers @ 1:23 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Perhaps the reason why the "Transnistria problem" continues to not get acknowledgement in the Western media is because it is not a problem at all.
Transnistria was never a historic part of Moldova anyway. It has a different ethnic makeup, and a different culture. When Moldova gots its freedom, so did Transnistria. Now they live next to Moldova, on their own, but are they creating any problems? If so, how? And wouldn't the alternative just stir up a lot more trouble?
Anonymous-
Even if you support Transnistria, which you evidently do, you have to admit that the situation is not perfect. On your side, you cannot be happy that Transnistria is not officially recognized by the rest of the world. And there are other ways in which Transnistria suffers during their conflict with the Chisinau government. When I phrased it as "The Transnistria Problem," I wasn't putting any sort of political spin on it. If anyone cares to counter your argument, they can do it in this comments section.
This is a good time to officially acknowledge the fact that the Tiraspol Times, which is presumed by many to be a government-sponsored propoganda paper, advertises on my blog through Google AdSense. It is my option to remove their ads at any time, but I don't, in respect for freedom of political expression.
I notice, however, that the Tiraspol Times does not offer either advertisement space or a comment field for varying points of view. But then again, why would they?
In response to the original question from your entry: Transnistria problem continues to get absolutely no acknowledgment in the Western media because Moldova itself is super-passive about it, as was recently discussed on my blog.
I like the fat that the first commenter decided to post anonymously. Something tells me (s)he could be directly affiliated with our beloved Tiraspol Times online publication... Because the line of reasoning he presents mirrors exactly the one presented on those website.
Regarding AdSense -- only now did I notice that you have it running on your site. I guess I got really good at being "ad-blind". BTW, this might be total offtopic (so free to ignore the following question) but what are your impressions of AdSense? Is it... mmm... worth it?
Alex-
The writing style is also extremely similar; the same sort of question-answer propaganda style that the Times uses. I reason that any person who writes that well in English and supports the Transnistrian cause is probably a native speaker under the Tiraspol government's employment.
As for AdSense, I joined nearly a year ago with the modest goal to make enough money to buy a mattress when I got back to America. So far, I've made $28.57; not enough for a mattress. I think that bloggers like us have too small of an audience (I get 2,500-3,000 hits a month) and have intelligent, ad-resistant readers; ads don't pay for us.
That said, I'm still dreaming of that mattress, so I'll keep it up.
- Peter
BTW, it seems that McCain is not absolutely Moldova-blind. Here is an article in a Romanian newspaper (via Val Popovici, but his website is screwed up).
AdSence... <$30 in a year -- I guess I'll pass on it then. BTW, do you get ~3000 HITS or VISITORS per month? Because I thought that your sites should be among the most read blogs in Moldova... Oh, and you should DEFINITELY participate in WebTop (I'll write about it sometime soon).
To clarify: The second paragraph that I quoted from the article are not John McCain's words. They are the words of the journalist. McCain was not reported in the article saying anything about breakaway regions in Russia or in other countries.
In answer to your question - Why does the Transnistria problem continue to get absolutely no acknowledgement in the Western media?
Perhaps ( sadly ) because Transnistria is regarded as a bit of a joke in the west - its desire to cling onto all those old Soviet values and emblems like the hammer and sickle badges, lenin statues, officious, corrupt border guards, etc - make people in the media think its a 'Back in the USSR' theme park. So much so that tour companies to Moldova have Transdniestra down as their biggest tourist attraction - a Soviet Disneyland by the black sea complete with Red square parades.
Pete wrote - the Cold War never ended.
Actually thats the theme of this time-slip alternative universe book I'm reading which we hope to turn into a film.
A place like Transdniestra would fit in nicely with our production plans as the perfect location for the production.
The storyline is Malcolm an ex British MI6 agent travels to Ukraine to meet his Ukrainian wifes parents who live in a town outside Kiev. He checks into the local ( ex Intourist Hotel ) at night after arriving from Kiev airport.
His hotel room is where ( unknown to him ) he enters the time-slip to awake in the present day Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine.
At first all looks normal to him as the USSR hotel looks no different to the Ukrainain hotel he checked into. That is he meets the same receptionist that greeted him on arrival and of course hes accustomed to the many old Lada cars on the road. Its only when he hands over hes passport to the receptionist to get it registered - that the alarm bells ring. The hotel staff are alarmed to see no Soviet Union visa on his passport and whats this strange Ukrainian visa ??
At first Malcolm thinks its a joke and laughs off the remarks but when he goes to breakfast hes attention is drawn to the TV mounted in the corner of the dining hall. For on the news is a military parade being shown live from Moscows Red Square with the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov taking the salute along with other members of the Politbureau.
Now it dawns upon Malcolm that all is not right and that hes now living in an alternative universe where the Soviet Union never fell - their was no Gorbochov, no perestroicka the Berlin Wall never fell and whats more - hes in deep trouble. As Malcolm had served as a military attache in Moscow back in the 1980's and had only justed escaped capture from the KGB who were going to arrest him for spying.
Malcolm needs to get out of Ukraine or the modern day Soviet Union fast but how? and so begins hes adventures where ( using the knowledge hes gained from his Ukrainian wife, Olga ) he tries to igracetiate himself with Soviet girl, Olga and her parents to smuggle himself out of the Soviet Union.
Great story all it needs is the right location.
Pete - does Transnistria exist as I have my 2005 atlas of Europe out and although I've fround Moldova theirs no sign of Transnistria ????
Still saying that - I never heard of the Falkland Islands until the Argies invaded - it made me wonder at the time - why would the Argentinians want to invade some islands off the coast of Scotland !!!
Steve.
It turns out that Transistria does get some attention in the western press, although probably not enough. See my blog entry that includes a graphic from a recent time magazine on all of Russias's simmering conflicts.
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