Fledgling Democracies

*Russia upped the ante this week in the stare-down with Georgia by sending additional troops to Abkhazia. Here, the Chicago Tribune has the back story and an analysis of Russia’s geopolitical aims in the conflict.

*Voice of America chats with Depty Asst Sec of State David Merkel, who says that Russia would do well to take a more “hands-off” approach to the former Soviet states.

• On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko urged Russia not to set aside the Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership, a key treaty setting out relations between the two countries. Russia’s parliament suggested voiding the agreement in retaliation for Ukraine’s EU and NATO ambitions. See the EU Business story here.

• Kazakstan, home to 3.3 percent of the world’s oil reserves, announced that its economy’s growth will slow in 2009, to 6 percent or less after seven years with and average growth of 10 percent thanks to the skyrocketing price of oil. A hefty supply of oil will not be enough to ward off the ill effects of the credit crunch, says this Kazinform story.

An opposition leader in Belarus was sentenced today to 10 days in prison for carrying a European Union flag at a demonstration yesterday to mark International Workers Day.

An article appearing in The Earth Times and elsewhere says Belarus Social Democrat party leader Mikola Statkevich was charged with displaying illegal media and participating in an unsanctioned demonstration.

Like most everyone else, I’ve had about enough of the slug fest that constitutes the Democratic presidential primary season right now, but up against your typical day in Belarus, it looks downright utopian.

In retaliation for sanctions the U.S. (and Europe) have imposed on Belarus since the controversial 2006 election of President Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus has expelled 10 American diplomats. The U.S. ambassador was sent packing in March.

U.S. officials say they won’t lift sanctions until Belarus releases imprisoned opposition leaders, but judging from today’s Washington Post story, odds are against it. Lukashenko said yesterday he has no intention of releasing Alexander Kozulin, the well-known leader sentenced to more than five years for organizing demonstrations following the ‘06 election. Of Kozulin, Lukashenko said:

“They have picked some putrid oppositionist who got 1.5 percent in the election and picture him as a political prisoner. He wants the whole world to rise to his release and the government to collapse.”

The State Department called the expulsion “unjustified and unwarranted,” but is it at all realistic, let alone fair, to expect a country we’re actively penalizing not to retaliate in some way, shape or form?

The folks at the World Database of Happiness recently ranked 95 nations on a happiness scale, asking people to rate how happy they are between 1 (least happy) and 10 (most happy).

Unsurprisingly, Denmark and Switzerland topped the list with ratings of 8.1, while dreary former Soviet republic Moldova came in dead last, managing only a 3.5 rating.

Commentary by Forbes notes that per capita income in the former Soviet republic comes in at a measly $880 per year. We all know money can’t buy happiness, but such a severe shortage of it certainly doesn’t help.

Belarus, Ukraine and Uzbekistan are other former Soviet republics which keep Moldova company near the very bottom of the list.

Just FYI, Americans reported an average happiness rating of 7.3, giving us the 17th spot.

So said Stanislau Shushkevich, former chairman of the Belarusian Parliament, at today’s opening of the Center for Belarusian Studies, at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.

The Wichita Eagle didn’t offer any elaboration on Shushkevich’s hopes for his country to more closely resemble the sunflower state, but did provide these tidbits:

• They (Belarus and Kansas) are about the same size and feature relatively flat topography.
• Each is landlocked, with residents known for a strong work ethic.
• Belarus has more than 9 million residents — about triple the population of Kansas — and an estimated 11,000 lakes, carved out by glaciers.

Shushkevich, with Boris Yeltsin and Ukraine’s Leonid Kravchuk, declared the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. He was joined at the opening by David Swartz, former US ambassador to Belarus and Southwestern U alum, who said conditions in Belarus have gone from “bad to worse” while other former Soviet republics are making forward progress. The new center’s goal is to “promote the revival of the Belarus nation through higher education.”

To that end, may they reach “ad astra per aspera,” or “to the stars through difficulties,” just like it’s done in Kansas.