Once more, the USA has blundered into a situation that has BOTH sides mad at us, and to NO discernable advantage. this idiocy of expanding NATO gas GOT TO STOP! We are already in enough trouble-let’s NOT go asking for more!! 
Alright then. Ignorance fought. Carry on.
In other news: Russia now started a ‘second front’ and has invaded Georgia through Abkhazia as well. Story here.
Trying (and failing) to see how the U.S. “blundered” into the situation or has “asked for” anything. Last I heard GWB was cozying up to the women’s beach volleyball team and issuing Strongly Worded Messages Deploring The Situation. Your post is IMO more evidence that to some the U.S. is always at fault for everything.
Well, we’re allied with Georgia and supported their failed attempts to join NATO. It’s possible our alliance with Georgia is what he considered our “blundering”.
Sorry if I came off as pissy :). It’s just I’ve seen a comment similar to your first post in another thread here and a couple of other places elsewhere. I was actually semi-serious about my question and wonder if it was some internet meme propagating due to a poorly written news article or the like.
It is a complex area ( the Caucasus makes the Balkans look simple and uncluttered ), especially in light of recent events since the Soviet dissolution. So it really isn’t that difficult to pick up mistaken impressions. I’m not such an expert that I expect not to get caught in an error or two myself ;).
And Andorra! And Gibraltar!!
I don’t see the “Georgia as a buffer” idea holding much water. A buffer against what? I doubt Armenia was planning on invading Russia and if they were, moving the border forward a hundred miles isn’t really going to be a factor. If anything, Georgia is being removed as a buffer - if the Russians occupy Georgia, they will once again adjoin Armenia and Turkey and will extend their frontier with Azerbaijan.
I also don’t see how the Russians can go for South Ossetian indepedence. If they create an independent Ossetian state, they have to believe the North Ossetians will push to secede from Russia and join it. Not that this would end the problems; there’s a group called the Ghalguis who are trying to secede from Ossetia.
Bush went to Tbilisi in '05 and said we’d support them…
“The path of freedom you have chosen is not easy, but you will not travel it alone. Americans respect your courageous choice for liberty. And as you build a free and democratic Georgia, the American people will stand with you.”
It was one of those rare foreign trips where George was met by rapturous applause instead of anger or indifference.
The Georgians tried to kick a beehive and got attacked by a bear for their troubles. So the Georgians are probably a bit miffed we didn’t follow up on those words while the Russians are pleased that the US won’t be sticking their nose in the Caucuses again anytime soon.
At least we haven’t lost the Albanians…(yet)
:: nitpick ::
Caucuses are part of the U.S. election process. The Caucasus is a mountain range running through the southern part of the Russian Federation, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
D’oh, blame Firefox’s spell checker! 
This article is a great breakdown of the conflict in a very concise manner.
Brilliant article! But I’m not surprised, since Montefiore knows quite a bit about the region and is also a really good writer.
Gee you don’t have to go back that far. Last month Condoleezza Rice went to Georgia to meet with Mikhail Saakashvili. She said, “It is extremely important that the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia be resolved on the basis of principles that respect the territorial integrity of Georgia.”
Eduard Kokoity, leader of South Ossetia said, “I have no doubts that the U.S. position on the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-Ossetian conflicts is only letting Georgia off the leash and will lead to further tensions over Abkhazia and South Ossetia.”
Good judge eh?
True, but any trip where someone throws a grenade at the president can’t be counted as a total triumph in public relations.
Not saying anything here is wrong but one aspect I think that is underplayed and could use more expansion is that there is a hardline Russian Nationalist potlical party (United Russian ) in control. Their spiritual ancestors have always feared NATO expansion. They have always felt that the fall of the USSR did not mean the end of Russian Empire. . Some in the West have pointed out that the this Party exaggerates or uses external enemies to mask problems at home (and you may ask what government doesn’t and you would be right).
In the last 9 years former Warsaw pact Countries or pieces of the USSR itself: Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, & the Czech republic– all became NATO members. All NATO Governments have agreed that Albania and Croatia are all but in, in just the last month. The Czechs and Hungarians are likely going to be part of the NATO missile shield which Putin (no longer the President) recently threw a fit about. I think all this is a trend that continuing unabated demands a response from Putin and his party
I think that is partially “Why” this is happening in this way. While acknowledging the long history and other factors, internal Russian politics is pushing this to roll out in this way at this time – Putin’s Party was elected with 64% of the vote in a non-free election to handle things just like this in just this manner. It is a major piece of their entire raison d’être. We can look for contributing factors etc. but certainly one prime mover of what we are seeing play out in Georgia and Ossetia is that. This sort of harda$$ action is precisely part of what some portions of the Russian people voted for, and what the Russian Cabal in charge see themselves as (partially) supposed to do.