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Supporting Georgia
Oct. 6th, 2006 06:56 pmGeorgia (on the Black Sea coast, rather than the Atlantic, and containing Lake Tabatskuri rather than Strom Thurmond Lake) is currently being thoroughly Frowned Upon by the Russians, who've set up quite serious economic sanctions against it (banning the import of its wines and mineral waters to start with, then cutting off flights, postal connections, and permission to send remittences home) on account of its temerity in arresting Russian spies on the grounds of espionage, and in attempting to join NATO.
I tend to have the naive belief that small democracies being Frowned Upon by large autocracies ought to be supported. On the other hand, there's essentially nothing imported from Russia that I buy (except for natural gas, but boycotting heating seems to be going a bit far); if I can't stop supporting the Russians I have to start supporting the Georgians, and, whilst a small democracy, Georgia is a lot bigger than I am, and I don't know how to go about supporting it. The most visible exports to the UK are Georgian wine and champagne; I wonder if Cambridge is big enough to have sellers of such things.
The other obvious approach is to visit: the country's gorgeous, though the Foreign Office advises against travelling there alone. Does anyone fancy Easter in Tblisi?
I tend to have the naive belief that small democracies being Frowned Upon by large autocracies ought to be supported. On the other hand, there's essentially nothing imported from Russia that I buy (except for natural gas, but boycotting heating seems to be going a bit far); if I can't stop supporting the Russians I have to start supporting the Georgians, and, whilst a small democracy, Georgia is a lot bigger than I am, and I don't know how to go about supporting it. The most visible exports to the UK are Georgian wine and champagne; I wonder if Cambridge is big enough to have sellers of such things.
The other obvious approach is to visit: the country's gorgeous, though the Foreign Office advises against travelling there alone. Does anyone fancy Easter in Tblisi?
