Word: unionizations
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...Ethnic Divide I partly agree with Andrew Purvis' Briefing on Georgia [Sept. 1]. However, on the question of the two ethnic entities now not being able to live side by side any time soon, one must remember that toward the end of the former Soviet Union the South Ossetians had a degree of autonomy. It was the new Georgian government that unilaterally revoked this autonomous status. So, at a moment of crisis, what should Russia have done but come to the rescue of its people (although in military terms the way it was done was definitely disproportionate)? I wonder what...
...Victims' organizations don't see the joke: They reacted furiously when the pub, situated only yards away from the large gray building complex that used to house the Stasi, opened last month. The Union of Organizations for the Victims of Communist Oppression called for a boycott of the bar, warning that it would "negate the suffering of thousands of former political prisoners or victims of persecution" by turning it into a "fun factor" in order to make profit. Owner Wolfgang Schmelz, not unhappy with the publicity generated by the controversy, dismisses the accusations. "Nothing is being trivialized here, no victims...
...France, which holds the presidency of the European Union, is welcoming the visit as "historic and highly symbolic," and as a "strong and encouraging sign" for relations between the two countries. Gul's office said in a statement that the visit "will be an opportunity to overcome obstacles and prepare a new ground to bring the two people together." Armenia's President Sarkisian told his country's diplomats this week that "without forgetting the past, we must look to the future." He added, "If there is a dialogue, we can discuss any, even the most difficult questions. We must shape...
...After the Soviet Union collapsed, recall, NATO membership was extended to the East European satellite states of the Soviet Union and to the three former Soviet republics on the Baltic. In 1999, NATO, ignoring Russian objections, went to war with Russia's ally Serbia over Kosovo. Just this year, most Western powers recognized Kosovo's independence, and - while the issue remains unresolved - at the very least considered eventual NATO membership for another two former Soviet republics, Georgia and Ukraine. So the question becomes: Has the West needlessly provoked Russia for more than a decade? Is it somehow to blame...
...were no good, costless choices over NATO expansion, much less over Kosovo. A decision to withhold NATO membership from Eastern Europe, and to leave the Kosovars to their fate, would have exposed as hypocrites those who had spent the Cold War taking the high moral ground against the Soviet Union. But sometimes, we have just been reminded, good intentions are not enough to ward off tragedy. That's one reason why it's always worth keeping a volume of Yeats' poetry close at hand...