Editorial Comments in the Western Press

Fareed Zakaria, “This Isn’t The Return Of Russia”, Newsweek, September 1, 2008

• "The attack on Georgia will go down not as the dawn of a new era of Russian power but as a major strategic blunder. Look at what has happened. Russia has scared its neighboring states witless, driving them firmly into the arms of the West…. The United States and Europe are now in greater strategic agreement than at any point in the last two decades. Even the autocracies in the Caucasus have reacted negatively to the attack, refusing to endorse Russia's actions and legitimize the new facts on the ground. China has refused its support.… [a] historical parallel might prove to be the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979."

Financial Times Op-Ed, “EU Must Be United And Firm On Russia”, September 1, 2008

• "In the long run, Russia may be punished more by the markets than by any sanctions. Private Russian corporate borrowing has been increasing sharply as public debt is reduced, and now the terms for such loans are getting tougher. It is important to bring home to Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev just how isolated Russia is, politically and commercially, because of their actions. Backing from Belarus and Venezuela is all they have got."

New York Times Op-Ed, “Stuck in Georgia”, August 27, 2008

• "While many Russians are cheering him now, we doubt that they will be eager to return to the grim days of Soviet isolation. For all its oil wealth, Russia is still a poorly developed, corrupt and fragile state. It is not in its long-term economic and security interest to divorce from the international mainstream…. Ties between Russia and the West are now the worst in a generation. It will take toughness and subtlety to ensure they do not lock into a permanent confrontation - not more bluster from anyone."

New York Times Op-Ed, “Helping Georgia”, September 4, 2008

• "The Kremlin's leaders continue to bluster and preen in the wake of their invasion of Georgia. Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian president, urged Washington this week to abandon Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili - calling him a "political corpse" - and claimed a "sphere of influence" outside Russian borders. His foreign minister warned Europe that countries dependent on Russian energy had better look to their "core interests."… While the Kremlin's leaders may be feeling invincible, Russia's business class clearly is not. Since early August, more than $7 billion in capital has fled the country."