President Medvedev promised that the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgian territory would begin on August 18. His French colleague warned that if this does not happen, Russia will face a deterioration in relations with the European Union. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed hope that this time Medvedev will keep his word.

The President of South Ossetia scolded his government and dismissed it. Eduard Kokoity accused the ministers of inaction, delaying the distribution of humanitarian aid and slow implementation of his instructions. So he had to “take very drastic measures.” In addition to dissolving the government, Kokoity introduced a state of emergency in the republic for a month.

I'm not joking. The name of this next article means that at the end of it I will explain in what sense I consider corruption useful. But this will become only one of the consequences of the main plot of the article. I intend to substantiate an important thesis: corruption is important to us by the fact that it is a consequence of any inefficiency-management, politics, economics, social relations, etc. Ineffectiveness create problems, problems give rise to corruption.

I would like to comment on two articles in “Hedgehog” regarding the Russian-Georgian war, so to speak, two hedgehog thorns. Take the splinter out - or pick it out and leave it? I liked the article by Alexei Makarkin - objective, calm. One can argue about the details - the portrait of Russian leaders is painted in too wonderful colors, but that is not the point. In the main, the author is right. To his question “Was there an alternative?” The honest answer is obvious - it wasn’t.

The armed clash between Georgia and Russia has brought Russian-American relations to the brink of a full-scale political conflict. They began to talk about the Cold War not as a threat, but as a fact. The rhetoric of the parties seems to have returned a quarter of a century ago. But apart from the tone of the statements being made, there is nothing in common with that era. The Cold War confrontation was based on a clear ideological division of the world.