Arriving Somewhere

In May Estonia experienced what might be considered the first case of state-sponsored cyber warfare. It began with the Estonian government’s decision to remove a World War II-era monument to a Soviet soldier from a park, sparking riots by ethnic Russians within Estonia as well as an official protest by the Russian government. [...]

Want to help mankind get to Mars? Volunteer for a 520-day psychological experiment.

An interesting post-mortem of the Russian cyber attack on Estonia this past month. In Estonia, what may be the first war in cyberspace

New Report: “Beslan: Russia’s 9/11?”
Report by John Dunlop Chronicles Hostage Crisis, Russian Coverup
For Immediate Release
Contact: Glen E. Howard, +1 202.364.2466
Washington, DC — The Jamestown Foundation and the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC) today published a major investigative report concerning the September 2004 terrorist attacks in Beslan, Russia. Authored by Stanford University expest and [...]

Putin will be visiting the White House on September 16.
Anyone in the mood for a protest?
Is there a chance that we can make a better showing than Germany? We only need 31 people…
technorati tag: Chechnya, Beslan, Putin

On July 12 at 9:00pm the PBS show “Wide Angle” will begin it’s 2005 season with an hour episode about the Beslan school siege by Chechen terrorists. As Russia allows very little news to escape about the war in Chechnya, this show promises to be very interesting. From the description on the website [...]

Mark N. Katz writes a nice short article in the Washington Times about Putin’s motivations to continue the conflict in Chechnya.
Analysis: Putin’s self-defeating policy
Moscow’s failure to quell the Chechen insurgency has humiliated the Russian armed forces… But after promising to pacify Chechnya, such a withdrawal could cause grave damage to Putin politically… In short, [...]

Via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
“I think we are seeing with Mr. Putin the final gasp of the Soviet era. The Soviet system is dead and the Soviet Union has disintegrated, but the Soviet elite still dominates Moscow, politically, and through Moscow, it dominates Russia. But that elite is increasingly fading from the scene. It is [...]

Gavin points out an article written by Jonathan Steele about Europe’s new strategy concerning the war in Chechnya in the Guardian.
So it is with Chechnya, Europe’s longest-running but least visible war. When Vladimir Putin, its architect, met the leaders of France, Germany and Spain in Paris last week, the subject was not discussed. Silence was [...]

Moscow has committed a grievous error by murdering Aslan Maskhadov, the legitimate President of Chechnya. Not only was this man elected in a free election that was recognized by the west, but he continued to champion peace - most recently by decreeing a month long cease-fire during February. Only days before his death [...]