Inkwell Institute

Eurasian Desk

Writing about what is a head for the people of Crimea now that they voted overwhelmingly to break with Ukraine and take up with Putin’s Russia……I would like to point t another region that has done the same thing and the results of that ………

There is a tale of woe………..for Russia that is……….Ever hear of South Ossetia?

South Ossetia was a province inside the country of Georgia which had a conflict within the bordewrs because the Ossetians did not want to be part of Georgia……after years of conflict they became an autonomous region aligned with Russia…….so how did that work out of the people of South Ossetia?

The ethnic Russians who make up most of Crimea’s population are pretty excited about the reunion with the motherland, but a look at other regions reveals that the love from Moscow may not last long, the New York Times finds. In South Ossetia, recognized as an independent state by Russia after its 2008 war with Georgia, the enclave was left isolated after recognition from other countries failed to follow; the local economy is now totally reliant on funds from Moscow. While residents were ecstatic when they first gained recognition from Russia, they now complain that Moscow has been heavy-handed about maintaining political control and that billions of rubles in promised aid have mostly ended up in the pockets of the local elite. “It will be sad if Crimea turns out the same way,” says an academic who complains that local government officials now live in much fancier houses—but a cup of tea costs $6. “This culture of Russian expansion, it means lots of money, but terribly distributed. It destroyed the good ways of a small people.”

That was one of the tales that was passed around when all this Ukrainian stuff started….that it would be too expensive for Putin to be serious about annexation………

Now can this be used to make the economics of a takeover more a headache than a windfall……

That sports fans will be the post for later today….just what will the West do to punish Putin for his actions?