In This Article
30-Second Summary
Headline Link: ‘Georgia “under attack” as Russian tanks roll in’
Background: Tensions between Georgia and Russia mount in April
Opinion & Analysis: How serious is the conflict?
Related Topics: Russia upset over U.S. missile defense plans; the “color revolutions”
Reference: Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia
Subscribe to International Updates
Musa Sadulayev/AP
A column of Russian tanks rolls near the town of Dzhava in the separatist Georgian province
of South Ossetia, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008. (AP)
A column of Russian tanks rolls near the town of Dzhava in the separatist Georgian province
of South Ossetia, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008. (AP)
Russia and Georgia on Brink of War
August 08, 2008 11:03 AM
by
Josh Katz
The military conflict in Georgia is escalating, as Russia continues to push back the Georgian troops and threatens to open up a second front in Abkhazia.
30-Second Summary
Russia is now in control of most of the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia, days after it first clashed with Georgian troops on Friday. But many fear that Russia will continue to pursue targets in Georgia proper and possibly attack Georgian forces in the other separatist region of Abkhazia to the west of South Ossetia.
As fighting continues in South Ossetia, Russia has also bombed the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and launched airstrikes on the Georgian military and transportation center of Gori, where Russian troops are amassing.
Georgia has signed a ceasefire agreement but Russia has said it would only sign if Georgia retreats from South Ossetia and pledges not to commit military action against the region.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been working on a Security Council resolution to condemn Russia.
Death toll accounts have differed, "from the low hundreds to more than 2,000," according to The New York Times. "Russian officials say more than 30,000 South Ossetians have fled into Russia."
Thursday night, Georgia responded to opposition in South Ossetia by launching a military offensive to assert control over the region. Russia says it sent in its military to defend Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia after several died in the Georgian offensive.
Moscow’s feud with Georgia has also strained its relations with the United States. Although Washington has backed Georgia’s bid to join NATO, Russia’s opposition has pressured other members of the organization into denying Georgian membership.
The conflict stems from the separatist unrest Georgia faced in Abkhazia and South Ossetia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1993, Georgian troops were forced out of the region, and Russia has tacitly supported Georgian opposition movements ever since.
As fighting continues in South Ossetia, Russia has also bombed the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and launched airstrikes on the Georgian military and transportation center of Gori, where Russian troops are amassing.
Georgia has signed a ceasefire agreement but Russia has said it would only sign if Georgia retreats from South Ossetia and pledges not to commit military action against the region.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been working on a Security Council resolution to condemn Russia.
Death toll accounts have differed, "from the low hundreds to more than 2,000," according to The New York Times. "Russian officials say more than 30,000 South Ossetians have fled into Russia."
Thursday night, Georgia responded to opposition in South Ossetia by launching a military offensive to assert control over the region. Russia says it sent in its military to defend Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia after several died in the Georgian offensive.
Moscow’s feud with Georgia has also strained its relations with the United States. Although Washington has backed Georgia’s bid to join NATO, Russia’s opposition has pressured other members of the organization into denying Georgian membership.
The conflict stems from the separatist unrest Georgia faced in Abkhazia and South Ossetia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1993, Georgian troops were forced out of the region, and Russia has tacitly supported Georgian opposition movements ever since.
Headline Link: ‘Georgia “under attack” as Russian tanks roll in’
“The pivotal question in the conflict, which has involved heavy fighting since late last week, is now whether Russia — which has poured troops into both Abkhazia and South Ossetia — will push beyond these regions and further into Georgia,” according to The New York Times.
Source: The New York Times (free registration may be required)
On Friday, August 8, CNN reported that there had been a significant escalation in the fighting between Georgia and Russia and South Ossetia. “My country is in self-defense against Russian aggression. Russian troops invaded Georgia,” said Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. But Russia has stated that it launched the attack to protect South Ossetia and the Russia population there: “The Georgian leadership has launched a dirty adventure,” a statement from Russia’s Defense Ministry said. “We will not leave our peacekeepers and Russian citizens unprotected.”
Source: CNN
Background: Tensions between Georgia and Russia mount in April
On July 11, 2008 findingDulcinea reported that Georgia recalled its envoy to Moscow because Russia had sent fighter jets into Georgia airspace. The episode was “Russia’s first admission for a decade that its air force has flown over Georgian territory without permission.”
Source: findingDulcinea
On April 28, 2008, findingDulcinea reported that, “The conflict over the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has escalated as Russia strengthens ties with the areas.”
Source: findingDulcinea
Opinion & Analysis: How serious is the conflict?
In The Moscow Times, Lincoln Mitchell, a professor of international politics at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, admits that Georgia committed a blunder by taking over the South Ossetian capital last week, but says that Russia has exceeded the required response. “Contrary to Russian propaganda, the threat Georgia represents to Russia is trivial. The reverse is not true.”
Source: The Moscow Times
Charles King, professor of international affairs in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, argues that, “the war began as an ill-considered move by Georgia to retake South Ossetia by force. Saakashvili's larger goal was to lead his country into war as a form of calculated self-sacrifice, hoping that Russia's predictable overreaction would convince the West of exactly the narrative that many commentators have now taken up.”
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
Reuters provides the opinions of a number of security experts on the current situation in the Caucasus. Christopher Langton, Defense Analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Expert in Central Asia, said this could become "the most serious incident in South Ossetia since the end of the war and it changes the face of this conflict quite dramatically."
Source: Reuters
Related Topics: Russia upset over U.S. missile defense plans; the “color revolutions”
“Russia threatened to retaliate by military means after a deal with the Czech Republic brought the US missile defence system in Europe a step closer,” the Times of London reported on July 9.
Source: The Times of London
According to a Jan. 18, 2008, findingDulcinea article, the “color revolutions”—peaceful revolutions in 2003–2005 in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan—“were each distinct, but shared one trait in being the peaceful expression of popular political will. Recent events have raised questions about the legacies of the revolutions.”
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia
The BBC examines the recent history of Georgia, particularly following Soviet rule. “During his [former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze] 11 years in office, the Georgian people felt increasingly at the mercy of poverty, corruption and crime.” Discontent led to the Rose Revolution in 2004 under the guidance of current President Mikhail Saakashvili.
Source: The BBC
Joseph Stalin incorporated Abkhazia into Georgia in 1910, and a number of Georgians settled in the region. “Georgian became the official language and the Abkhaz language and cultural rights were repressed,” according to The BBC. Georgia sent troops into Abkhazia in 1992 to quell opposition, and after much bloodshed, the troops left by the end of 1993. Abkhazia declared independence in 1994, but it still lacks international recognition.
Source: The BBC
Georgia opposes South Ossetia’s calls for independence, referring to the area as either Samachablo or the Tskhinvali region. Because the name South Ossetia implies “political bonds with North Ossetia,” Georgia sees the name as a threat to its “territorial integrity,” writes the BBC.
Source: The BBC
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
