Chess Game over Crimea
uncategorized
Crimea Russia Ukraine MapRussia has won the chess game. President Putin played well. The other side consisting of the fledgling government in Kiev, President Obama, and the European Union could have played a better game. There was a significant failure on the part of Obama, his advisers such as Ambassador Samantha Power, the European Union, and the rest of the West in understanding the ground realities and grasping the big picture. For example, Obama and even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seem to have believed that Russia was not serious about annexing Crimea and that by threatening dire consequences Putin could be made to change his course.
Part of the reason for West’s failure lies in their habit of ignoring history. The Russian Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol was established by Prince Potemkin in 1783. This is the only warm water base that Russia has. The 1997 treaty between Russia and Ukraine divided the fleet between them, 81.7% for Russia and 18.3% for Ukraine; Russia was given the right to use the port of Sevastopol for 20 years. In 2009, Ukraine sent out signals that the treaty would not be extended when it expires in 2017. Finally, an agreement was made in 2010 to extend the treaty by 25 years in 2017 with a provision for an additional 5 years taking it to 2047. (more…)
uncategorized
Italy Erred in Dealing with Marines Case
“Masters of the art of diplomacy have failed to tackle the Indo-Italian imbroglio, emerging out of the killing of two fishermen of Kerala, in a mature way,” K P Fabian, former Indian Ambassador to Italy and the diplomat-in-residence of KPS Menon Chair for Diplomatic Studies, School of International Relations and Politics (SIRP) at Mahatma Gandhi University has said.
“Masters of the art of diplomacy have failed to tackle the Indo-Italian imbroglio, emerging out of the killing of two fishermen of Kerala, in a mature way,” K P Fabian, former Indian Ambassador to Italy and the diplomat-in-residence of KPS Menon Chair for Diplomatic Studies, School of International Relations and Politics (SIRP) at Mahatma Gandhi University has said.
He was delivering a special lecture on ‘Indo-Italian Imbroglio’ at the KPS Menon Chair here on Wednesday. Ambassador Fabian said the Italian government has erred in dealing with the marines case right from the day of the incident.
(more…)
March 06th, 2014 | category:uncategorized |
Latest Articles
SRI LANKA: QUESTIONS AND LESSONS
International Affairs: Articles December 26th, 2022
Arab Spring or Islamic winter? KP Fabian’s new ‘was and wasn’t’ book answers this question
Books August 19th, 2022
‘They should have asked students to get out of Ukraine weeks ago’
International Affairs: Articles March 08th, 2022
The Ukraine Crisis & Operation Ganga
International Affairs: Articles March 05th, 2022
Domestic affairs, Politics January 27th, 2022
My Favorite Links
Archives
- 2022
- January 2022 (1)March 2022 (2)August 2022 (1)December 2022 (1)
- 2020
- January 2020 (1)March 2020 (2)April 2020 (2)May 2020 (3)
- 2019
- June 2019 (1)December 2019 (1)
- 2018
- January 2018 (1)February 2018 (1)May 2018 (1)October 2018 (3)
- 2017
- August 2017 (1)
- 2016
- July 2016 (2)November 2016 (1)
- 2015
- January 2015 (1)
- 2014
- February 2014 (1)March 2014 (2)June 2014 (1)July 2014 (2)August 2014 (1)December 2014 (1)
- 2013
- May 2013 (1)July 2013 (1)August 2013 (1)September 2013 (1)
- 2012
- March 2012 (2)July 2012 (1)
- 2011
- February 2011 (1)
- 2010
- July 2010 (1)November 2010 (3)
- 2009
- March 2009 (6)April 2009 (1)October 2009 (3)