All too often the media either misreports world-events or through a Western filter.
The recent Georgia-Russian conflict is a case in point as FP [Foreign Policy] headlines - "It’s time for the West to realize that Mikheil Saakashvili is no saint and that Georgia is not quite an innocent victim."
Charles King explores the issues and explains:
"Last August’s brief war between Russia and Georgia was fought not only on the rolling hills of South Ossetia, but also on a second front in the international print and broadcast media. If Georgia’s military didn’t exactly distinguish itself on the first front, its government, particularly its president, thoroughly dominated the second.
From the earliest hours of the conflict, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili took to the airwaves to appeal for international sympathy and assistance. By and large, his efforts worked and the Western public bought the story line of a small democratic ally being bullied by a rogue superpower. Russia’s version of the story, that an unbalanced and power-hungry Georgian president was preparing genocide against the ethnic Ossetians, sold well at home but didn’t resonate so well internationally.
In recent months, however, a picture of the war more complicated than either side’s caricature has emerged. None of the sides remains blameless. But in light of this new information, it is now clear that for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, constraining Georgia will be a task no less important than containing Russia."
The recent Georgia-Russian conflict is a case in point as FP [Foreign Policy] headlines - "It’s time for the West to realize that Mikheil Saakashvili is no saint and that Georgia is not quite an innocent victim."
Charles King explores the issues and explains:
"Last August’s brief war between Russia and Georgia was fought not only on the rolling hills of South Ossetia, but also on a second front in the international print and broadcast media. If Georgia’s military didn’t exactly distinguish itself on the first front, its government, particularly its president, thoroughly dominated the second.
From the earliest hours of the conflict, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili took to the airwaves to appeal for international sympathy and assistance. By and large, his efforts worked and the Western public bought the story line of a small democratic ally being bullied by a rogue superpower. Russia’s version of the story, that an unbalanced and power-hungry Georgian president was preparing genocide against the ethnic Ossetians, sold well at home but didn’t resonate so well internationally.
In recent months, however, a picture of the war more complicated than either side’s caricature has emerged. None of the sides remains blameless. But in light of this new information, it is now clear that for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, constraining Georgia will be a task no less important than containing Russia."
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