Today's Links : 14th August

Cameron now looks like PM-in-waiting . Iain Martin, The Telegraph (en)

"... The Government's response to the Russian aggression in Georgia has been typical of the return we are making to the genteel management of British decline. ...Britain is the fourth largest economy in the world, the second power of consequence in the command structure of Nato, and it was day five in the crisis before the PM appeared in front of a television camera to say anything.
Margaret Thatcher, Blair and possibly even Major would have summoned a television crew within 24 hours of the tanks rolling and made a statement expressing disapproval and called for the world's multilateral institutions to take this aggression seriously..."

Back to the future with the old superpower. Charles Bremner, Blog (en)

Bush squares up to Putin over Georgia. Tom Baldwin, The Times (en)

Full text of the Georgia peace plan - and obstacles to its implementation. Charles Bremner, The Times (en)

"...

1. The non-use of force to resolve the conflict,
2. An immediate halt to all military action,

3. Free access to humanitarian aid,
4. Georgian troops will return to their positions of August 8, before the conflict opened,

5. Russian troops return to the lines they held before the start of the military operation. Before an international solution is worked out Russian peacekeepers are to take up an additional security role,

6. The start of an international discussion over the future status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

..."

Vladimir Putin's mastery checkmates the West. Michael Binyon, The Times (en)

Germany contracts for first time in 4 years. Ralph Atkins, The FT (en)

Bush sends US forces on Georgia aid mission. Andrew Ward, Stanley Pignal and Charles Clover, The FT (en)

US warns Turkey over energy deal with Iran. Andrew Ward and Alex Barker, The FT (en)

Spain recalls cabinet for crisis meeting. Mark Mulligan, The FT (en)

Ukraine snubs Moscow on port. Roman Olearchykin, The FT (en)

Missile talks with Poles gain urgency. Jan Cienski, The FT (en)

"...Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, said this week: “The Georgian issue shows that in the generally understood area of the former Soviet bloc, real security guarantees are important.”...Czech Republic and in Poland... Neither country’s officials see an attack by a rogue state – the raison d’être of the missile shield – as a realistic threat, but they regard the presence of the bases as a bulwark against a possible threat from Russia.... "