Photographer :
cairnz @ flickr
In the grey area between Europe and Asia sits Georgia, a small country perched in defiance of the vast Russian Federation that looms above it. Recent military action by Georgia to reclaim rebellious internal territories was met with a cavalcade of Russian armed forces, resulting in an estimated 2,000 casualties and 100,000 refugees.
A war of words worthy of the Cold War era has ensued, involving some of the most powerful nations on earth. Russia claimed it was preventing ‘genocide’, Georgia crowed about an ‘annihilation of democracy’ and George W. Bush weighed in, claiming Russia’s actions were ‘unacceptable in the 21st century’. So how do you begin to sort the truth from the trash and get your head around the latest centuries-old conflict to hit the news?
Georgia lies between the Black and Caspian seas in the Caucasus, where the Soviet Union used to reign supreme. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgia gained independence and has been reinventing itself as a democratic republic since.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia are two regions of Georgia populated mainly by Russian citizens, who have been demanding independence from Georgia since 1991. With a separate but unrecognised government and military, South Ossetia has long been an unstable region. On 7 August 2008, Georgia launched an offensive to reclaim the area.
Russia responded with the might you would expect from a world power. Russian ‘peacekeepers’ soon occupied South Ossetia, Abkhazia and other parts of Georgia, including the city of Gori, only a half hour’s drive from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili cried foul, saying ‘Georgia did not seek confrontation, Georgia was not the aggressor, and Georgia will not give up its territories.’ Russian President Dmitry Medvedev insisted that Russia is a ‘peace-loving country’ that ‘[does] not attack anyone’. Medvedev argued that Russia was obliged to protect the Russian citizens of South Ossetia when they came under Georgian attack.
A peace plan between Russia and Georgia was hastily brokered by French president Nicholas Sarkozy. The European Union, with Sarkozy as its current president, was keen to put out the sparks of a war next door that could undermine European economic and social stability. Yet like so many peace plans before it, Sarkozy’s also proved to be ineffectual. The ceasefire terms allow Russia to advance further into Georgia under the guise of ‘peacekeeping’ and ‘additional security measures’. The morning after the peace plan was signed credible reports of violence, looting and an increasing Russian presence emerged.
Georgia has been unable to win a trick against Russia, despite a supposed alliance with the USA. Democratically elected as Georgian President in 2004, Mikheil Saakashvili is a self-proclaimed ally of America. A US-sponsored oil pipeline runs through Georgia, and in 2005, President Bush proclaimed to a rally in Tbilisi, ‘As you build your free and democratic Georgia, the American people will stand with you.’ Awkwardly for Bush, Saakashvili intends on holding him to his word, recently admitting ‘I have staked my country’s fate on the West’s rhetoric about democracy and liberty’.
In response, Bush has sent his one-size-fits-all solution for foreign crises, Condoleezza Rice, to the region in the hope that she will be able to perform a diplomatic feat and persuade Russia to back off. She has little to bargain with however; US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has made it clear there is no prospect of US military involvement. For now, the standoff between Russia and the US continues, with Georgia as piggy in the middle.
Pitching Russia and the US against each other will bring chills to anyone who remembers the Cold War. For the rest of us, practically every spy movie we’ve seen in our short lives attests to the dangers of wily Russians facing off against overzealous Americans. Away from the silver screen, things are hardly clear cut. Russia may have a 19th Century attitude to controlling its borders, but the US, EU, and every other Western acronym out there need Russia’s cooperation, to challenge nations like Iran over nuclear firepower issues. An effective peace plan for Russia and Georgia must respect Russia’s concerns as well as Georgia’s outrage.
Whether or not you believe in Ossetian independence or Georgia’s right to rule, this latest development in one of the grey areas of the world is a timely reminder of how small nations can have big impacts.
How do I know this?
AFP. 2008, ‘Russia defies ceasefire in Georgia’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 August,
http://news.smh.com.au/world/russia-defies-ceasefire-in-georgia-20080814-3v5l.html
AFP. 2008, ‘NATO-Russia feud erupts’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 August,
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/natorussia-feud-erupts/2008/08/20/1218911762455.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
AFP. 2008, ‘White house rivals battle over Georgia’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 August,
http://news.smh.com.au/world/white-house-rivals-battle-over-georgia-20080814-3vac.html
Editorial. 2008, ‘Russia’s war of ambition’, The New York Times, 12 August,
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/opinion/12tue1.html?ref=opinion
Gorbachev, Mikhail. 2008, ‘A Path to Peace in the Caucasus’, The Washington Post, 12 August, pg.13.
Kramer, Andrew E. 2008, ‘Peace Plan Offers Russia a Rationale to Advance’, The New York Times, 13 August,
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/world/europe/
14document.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Medvedev, Dmitry. 2008, ‘Statement on the Situation in South Ossetia at the Meeting with Veterans of the Battle of Kursk’, President of Russia, statement transcript, 18 August,
http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/08/
18/2129_type82912type84779_205474.shtml
McGeough, Paul. 2008, ‘Trigger happy and oil mad’, The Sydney Morning Herald (News Review), 16-17 August, pg.29.
Muskal, Michael. 2008, ‘Getting one’s bearings in the Georgia-Russia conflict’, Los Angeles Times, 13 August,
http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-qna14-2008aug14,0,1333135.story
Nodia, Ghia. 2008, ‘The War for Georgia’, New Matilda, 13 August,
http://newmatilda.com/2008/08/13/war-georgia
Rubin, James P. 2008, ‘The Politics of War: Treating Russia Like China, and McCain’s Petulance’, The Huffington Post, 13 August,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-rubin/ithe-politics-of-wari-tre_b_118763.html
Saakashvili, Mikheil. 2008, ‘Declaration of Universal Mobilisation’, President of Georgia, speech transcript, 8 August,
http://www.president.gov.ge/?l=E&id=2689
Saakashvili, Mikheil. 2008, ‘Russia’s War is the West’s Challenge’, The Washington Post, 14 August, pg.17
