Economist.com
Europe

Russia's new assertiveness
Ships, subs and missiles

Aug 9th 2007 | MOSCOW
From The Economist print edition
Ventures into the near-abroad

---

IN RECENT weeks Russian nostalgia for past greatness has been seen stretching from the North Pole to the Mediterranean via the Caucasus. First the Russians planted a flag on the bottom of the Arctic. Then they promised to return to the Mediterranean. For good measure, a Russian-made bomb fell (but did not explode) into a vegetable field in Georgia. That the three events came close together may be a coincidence. That they all testify to Russia's new assertiveness is not.

The incident in Georgia may be the most serious. The relationship between Moscow and Tbilisi has been near breaking-point for months. There are no direct transport links between the two countries, and Georgian food and wine imports are banned in Russia (for health reasons, of course). Russia supports the breakaway enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Georgia is trying to regain, even to the extent of issuing residents with Russian passports. It could take less than a bomb to detonate such a situation.

• ロシア、ミニ潜水艦を使って国旗を北極海底に立てた。
• グルジア共和国、ロシア戦闘機がグルジア国内へミサイル攻撃をしたと非難、問題を安保理へ持ち込んだ。
• ロシア、今ではかなり縮小されてしまったバルチック艦隊/黒海艦隊を再起用して中東への再進出（ロシア海軍艦船を地中海に常駐）させることを示唆。ロシア海軍司令官がシリアのかってのロシア軍港が空っぽになっているのを、具体的に再活用提案。