August 13, 2008

Georgia Updates

Here's a grab-bag of links, quotes and comments on the Russia-Georgia War now that the two countries have agreed to a ceasefire and peace plan brokered by French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

James Pethokoukis makes the key point:

"Now we all have clarity about the nasty nature of Putin's Russia...We also now have greater clarity on the need to dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil. As fast as possible without ruining the economy. It's 'all of the above' time, gang - domestic drilling, nukes, concentrated solar, deep geothermal, clean coal, and whatever else Silicon Valley and heroic capitalists everywhere can dream up as we conduct a market-driven transition to a post-hydrocarbon economy. Now the inside-the-beltway types tend to pooh-pooh all this... But why they would want to risk the American economy potentially held hostage to, say, a couple of oil pipelines running through Soviet-occupied - I mean, Russian-occupied - Georgia is baffling to me.

Austin Bay sees a "dire diplomatic aftermath." Blackfive is equally ominous.

But Ilya Somin sees some positive indicators.