The diplomatic ramifications of the Georgia peace deal are still ramifying. Almost every major western power, and most of the west's multilateral groupings, have had the fundamentals of their policy shaken or challenged. There is a strong economic aspect shaping the responses too, and it goes way beyond the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. I'm going to try and do a scrapbook style collation of thoughts and links here... First, Europe: the EU foreign ministers meet today. Instead of the usual opportunities for diplomatic platitude they have to decide if they support the Georgian peace plan engineered by Sarkozy or not. Step forward Franco Frattini , the Italian foreign minister: "It would be negative for Europe to create a sort of coalition against Russia. It's important that Europe is the 27 (member states) and that it does not divide into groups and little cliques". The Italian government has reportedly said it is "Close to Putin's Position". FACT: When Russia turned off the gas to Ukraine in January 2006 there was a more or less immediate gas shortage in Italy. Italy's energy major ENI is planning a major joint venture with Gazprom in Libya. Next Germany's foreign minister, Frank Walter Steinmeyer: asked should Russia be kicked out of the G8: "It just doesn't seem to me to be very smart in such a time of crisis to decide whether we should revert to the previous situation." FACT: Former SPD Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose government ag ...
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