An interesting column from Melik Kaylan at Forbes, who spends some time following Mikheil Saakashvili during last week’s UNGA, and gets into a debate with Owen Matthews about Russia’s ambitions and the legitimacy of their current grievances. The fundamental question of the debate: does a NATO presence in the Ukraine or Georgia really actually pose a security threat to Russia, or only a defense against expansionism?

We had the McCain-Obama debate on. At the bohemian Greenwich Village brownstone of our friend Ann Marlowe, the leading literary salonista of our time, Misha ate and watched and greeted a stream of well-wishers. Upstairs, Owen and I debated the Russia/Georgia matter. He had just penned a quasi-sympathetic large profile of Misha in Newsweek. I had just published a story in The Wall Street Journal, the first to detail the destruction of Georgian cultural sites during the recent invasion.

I have said before in this space that Owen, like many others, believes Misha made a mistake in the recent conflict by drawing his six-gun first–I believe the Russkies drew first, but Misha moved quicker. Owen and I ranged back and forth over the topic. So I suggested to him that we have it out in public, here, in my column. Let him speak for himself.

Last 5 posts by Robert Amsterdam

• Igor Yurgens Speech : Transcript - November 6th, 2009
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• Today in Russian Business - Nov 6, 2009 - November 6th, 2009