Around the world: Somalia, Georgia, and Burma

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Here is another installment in our "Around the World" series, featuring stories that may not have received much attention here in North America (and in Europe, too, perhaps) but that certainly deserve more.

1) Somalia:

Somali insurgents have dragged the bodies of two dead Ethiopian soldiers through the streets of Mogadishu after a day of heavy battles.

Residents say hundreds of people trailed after them, pelting the corpses with stones, chanting "God is Great".

It's Black Hawk Down, again... well, sort of. The Somali government is Ethiopian-backed, and Ethiopian forces occupy the country. The insurgents opposed to the occupation are generally Islamists and militiamen, but the Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia (ALS), a union of opposition groups, is much more diverse, much more a cross-section of Somali society. And, Islamism notwithstanding, it makes a strong case.

A Q&A delving into the complex situation in Somalia is here.

**********

2) Georgia:

Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili has declared a 15-day, nationwide state of emergency after police broke up a sixth day of opposition protests.

Demonstrations have been banned, only state television can broadcast news.

In a TV address, Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said a coup attempt had been made and Mr Saakashvili said "Russian special services" were behind unrest.

The president has rejected the protesters' accusations of corruption and says he will not quit.

The prime minister initially announced a state of emergency in the capital Tbilisi for 48 hours, but that was later extended to the whole country for 15 days.

Earlier in the day, police had used water cannon, tear gas and batons to break up opposition protests outside parliament.

Yes, as in Pakistan, a state of emergency and a crackdown on anti-government protests, with the military sent into the streets to enforce Saakashvili's tyrannical rule. Saakashvili is now calling for a presidential election in January, and opposition leaders are gearing up to bring him down, but it is hard to believe that the election will be free and fair, that is, that the opposition stands a chance of winning.

A Columbia-educated lawyer, Saakashvili -- more on him here and here -- came to power with 2003's Rose Revolution, which took down former Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze. He has guided Georgia aggressively away from Russia, neo-liberalizing its economy and forging close ties with the West, including the U.S., but he is a demagogue, hyping the Russian threat and clamping down on dissent and opposition, and something of a dictator. He is hardly the world's worst leader, and the pro-Russian elements in the country are hardly any better, but there is no doubt he is brutalizing his country.

From The Plank's Eve Fairbanks, on "Yet Another Uncomfortable Predicament for Bush": "Stand by an ally -- or stand with the democratic protesters whom your ally viciously represses? Watch Georgian police power-hose and tear-gas huge crowds of unarmed protesters objecting to President Mikhail Saakashvili's rule in this terribly sad video."

Please take the time to watch it.

**********

3) Burma:

The UN envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, has made progress in promoting dialogue between the military rulers and the opposition, the organisation has said.

Mr Gambari has just completed a six-day visit to Burma, during which he met a number of ministers as well as detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The UN said a path to "substantive dialogue" was now under way.

The comments come despite signs that Mr Gambari's visit has made little headway in pushing the junta towards reform.

It's hard to know what to make of this. It was being reported earlier in the week that the totalitarians -- which is what I often call the military junta -- had rejected the U.N.'s mediation plan, but progress seems to have been made -- if, that is, we are to believe Gambari, whose seemingly self-justifying rhetoric may be more positive than the depressing reality of the situation. There may now be dialogue, or the prospect of dialogue, and Aung San Suu Kyi may now be prepared to talk to -- and perhaps cooperate with (whatever that would entail), the totalitarians who have long oppressed her, but it seems unlikely that the junta will talk in good faith, that is, will take the opposition seriously, let alone initiate genuine democratic reform.

In other words, all this may be for show. The totalitarians have their friends, notably in China and India, but they need to show the world, through the U.N., that they are at least open to change (whether they really are or not). The West has already turned its attention away from Burma, the spotlight faded, if not gone, and now the emphasis may be on public relations. Say the right things, persuade Gambari that change may come, and sit tight while everyone moves on.

A great deal of blood has been spilled, much of it monastic, the totalitarians asserting their brutality and crushing their opponents -- and that was that.

What a world we live in.