Putin’s Eurasian Union

Current Russian Prime Minister and Future President Vladimir Putin has proposed something of a Eurasian Union that would contain Russia and states that formerly comprised the Soviet Union. I assume that any Eurasian Union would look similar to the European Union except with Russia as the dominant power.

 Putin made these remarks just days before a scheduled trip to China to sign a number of key trade agreements. I’d have to hear more about what Mr. Putin conceptualizes as a “Union” before I render a final judgment, but if he’s thinking of something like the European Union, the idea is a loser.

What if we have a Eurasian debt crisis like the one currently plaguing Europe? Russia is not so economically diverse that they could shoulder the load for large bailouts, meaning the heavy lifting would fall upon Russia, lets see how appealing a Union looks then.

 Furthermore, the region already has numerous problems with human trafficking and organized crime. Creating the kind of borderless society that the EU has would only seek to worsen these problems making it easier for Eurasia’s daughters to disappear into the seedy world of the global sex trade.

The only real advantage that I could see for Russia is a potential increase in influence among the former Soviet states, but even that could be marginal as one gets closer to China. The more I think about it, Russia would be merely the junior partner in any arrangement with China, which could be problematic given Russia’s tendency towards autocratic rule and desire to be the best country on the planet.

I see any Eurasian Union as a chaotic, fractionalized, mess and would plead with Mr. Putin “Just look at Europe.”

Hamas and Palestinian Statehood

Anyone who expected Hamas to support the bid for Palestinian statehood recently brought to the floor of the United Nations is clueless.

Hamas views the United Nations as an American and Israeli dominated institution, and any effort to gain statehood would be seen as a betrayal to the Hamas conception of a Palestinian state that includes the land that is Israel.

Hamas hasn’t exactly captured the mind of the Palestinian people since taking power in 2006. They’ve taxed many Palestinians to the point of even greater impoverishment, while many Hamas cadres drive around in fancy cars. Hamas is now viewed by many as no better than the Palestinian authority they replaced.

Mahmoud Abbas drive for United Nations statehood has little chance of passing, that is beyond the point. Abbas has dared to try something different. The Middle East peace process has been marred by started and failed negotiations, hot rhetoric of hatred and destruction, and sporadic outbreaks of war that just leads to more death and violence.

This “something different” has won Abbas support because the Palestinian people have grown fatigued with a lifetime of war, with nothing more than words and rockets in return.

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/1005/Hamas-popularity-hits-a-new-low-after-opposing-UN-statehood-bid.

Afghanistan’s Triangle Sandwich

Christian Science Monitor posed a very interesting question last week Can United States, Pakistan, and/or India bring peace to Afghanistan?

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2011/1006/India-Pakistan-and-the-US-Can-anyone-bring-peace-to-Afghanistan.

Although the thought interests me considering the strategic calculations that are going on in the background. Like growing tensions between the United States and Pakistan, the Karzai governments less than friendly recent words directed at elements within Pakistan, and the Afghan governments move to bolster friendly relations with India.

The unfortunate reality is that no one can bring peace to the Afghanistan, but Afghans themselves. If they request international assistance, than we should do everything we can to provide it. We should do everything we can for Afghanistan.

I realize this statement is not popular among many Americans, but it is reality. We invaded in response to a terrorist attack and proceeded to rout the Taliban. That therefore, puts the United States on the hook for providing the average Afghan citizen can use. That said, this should not be without limits. We cannot stay at current levels in Afghanistan forever, the electorate would not allow that.

Pakistan is part of the problem as the military and related organs support various insurgent groups, and I’m not sure that I trust India to not turn Afghanistan into an issue sphere to be lobbed against Pakistan.

Afghanistan peace is best achieved by the people of Afghanistan.

Ten Years in Afghanistan

The United States invaded Afghanistan in the wake of 9-11-01 in order to dislodge the Taliban and fight Islamic extremism. Ten years later, the question needs to be asked what has that effort netted us? Almost 2,800 soldiers have been killed from the international coalition that first invaded Afghanistan.

 Furthermore, the Afghan government is the second most corrupt government in the entire world. As American forces make plans to largely withdraw by 2014, the fledgling Afghan army is an uncertain commodity that will be tasked with preventing a civil war in Afghanistan.

I have my doubts that we’ll reach a good conclusion in Afghanistan. Me doesn’t trust that the Islamists aren’t just playing a waiting game, waiting for an American exit before reemerging. And at any rate, I don’t trust Karzai to carry Afghanistan to peace.

The best American hope may be, to revisit a less centralized form of government that I’ve spoken of during my Afghanistan series posted in July, where you have the centralized government in Kabul, but autonomy throughout the various regions of Afghanistan. This type of government is the only sort of government that has succeeded in Afghanistan’s beautiful, yet sad, history.

Change and Explanation

I’ve been writing these vague statements about change on my Facebook including “I’m changing because I have to.” People have misread these statements, but their misread is understandable given my history of bending over backwards to please certain people. It’s been said that I try to hard to get people to like me.

 This current of change I’m going through is quite personal and has nothing to do with specific people. I am trying to get into graduate school and I am quite shy and introverted to the point where I almost never spoke in any undergraduate course.

Really shy people who can’t bear to speak publicly have a shelf life of about five minutes in grad school because participation counts for at least 30% of the grade in seminar settings. Therefore, I had a choice to make: either give up on even attempting graduate school or confront the one thing that scares me more than anything else: public speaking.

 There are days when its’ difficult…no matter how much some people may want change to be quicker, myself included, I can’t just go from super shy introverted person to captain of the debate team in a week. But with time and experience, I’ll be okay.

I like Big Brains and I Cannot Lie

With all due apologies to Sir Mix A-Lot and his big 1990’s hit “Baby Got Back”, he had the equation utterly wrong.

Now sure, the first thing most people notice about a person are their physical traits like hair and eye color, facial shape, height, and yes unfortunately if you’re a girl you may be judged by some men on how you fill out a pair of Daisy Dukes. I assume girls have their own criteria, but as I was born with male chromosomes that will have to wait for another day.

The problem is that many relationships seem to start based on how “hot” a guy or girl is and never beyond the establishing characteristic of hotness.

I’m no angel when it comes to checking out girls. but as you move away from being a teenager and mature a little bit, what you want in a relationship shifts. For me, its’ not just a matter of identifying a specific set of traits like blond hair, blue eyes anymore. Now I’m looking not just for certain physical traits, but certain inner attributes.

 I want a girl who has a brain…this massively beautiful brain that allows her to converse on a range of subjects from NHL hockey to the political and social issues of the day. My prevailing thought is that my future wife is probably a conservative Christian with an iron strong will.…

The Real Stuff Steve Jobs Left

With the passing of Steve Jobs yesterday at the age of fifty six, we’ve lost yet another great artist, far too young. Perhaps, it is the nature of extraordinary human genius to be gifted to humanity. For the briefest of moments. Steve Jobs impact on the world is all consuming. He changed the way that we listened to music and searched the Internet through the I-Tunes and I-Phone, altered the movie experience through Pixar and turned Apple into one of the most successful companies in human history.

Jobs ultimate legacy however, rests in something far deeper than the latest technological gadget. Steve Jobs always had a vision and an unrelenting belief that his vision could become reality, even when people told him it was impossible. He believed that in order to change the world, you may have be considered crazy and unreasonable in your ideas and expectations, otherwise nothing changes.

In this life, you got to follow your heart and do what makes you happy because it’s your life, no one else’s. These are some of the many lessons, Mr. Jobs leaves behind.