Russia invades Georgia, escalating long-standing conflict

08Aug08

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Around the same time that the world focused their attention on Beijing for the Summer Olympics, Russia sent troops into a region of neighboring Georgia this morning, escalating a longstanding conflict that has dated back to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.  It’s an ethnic conflict, but also a territorial conflict, and one that involves (surprise, surprise) oil.

The control over the region in question is a very complicated matter — which is why it’s taken me a bit to send this email out and why this email is so long (and includes a map!)

Here is some (lengthy) background on the region and the conflict:

Russian troops entered South Ossetia, which gained de facto autonomy from Georgia since the early ’90s, when it engaged in armed conflict with Georgia after the fall of the Soviet Union.  Legally, it is part of Georgia; it is not recognized as an independent nation, even though South Ossentians voted in favor of a 2006 referendum for indpendence.  Yet its people and their separatist leaders do not want to be part of the Georgian state, in any shape or form. 

They want either to attain international recognition as an independent state, or to be united with their ethnic kin living across the border in the Russian region of North Ossetia.  Russia asserts that its role since the end of the South Ossetian war in 1992 has been that of a peace-keeper. But it has supported the separatist regime financially and militarily, and reportedly has a considerable number of security and intelligence operatives there.

And here’s the oil angle: The region is located within the Caucasus mountain region, a key conduit for the flow of oil from the Caspian Sea to world markets and an area where violent conflict has flared for years along Russia’s borders, most recently in Chechnya.

Which leads to today’s conflict. Russian troops were sent across the border this morning after Georgia moved against the Russian-backed separatists. Russia says 12 of its soldiers are dead, and separatists estimate that 1,400 civilians have died. Georgia accused Russia of unleashing an air bombing campaign and claimed that hundreds of civilians had been killed; Russia denied those accusations.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Russia was making war on his country. Despite denials from Moscow, the Russian air force has been carrying out air raids in South Ossetia and Georgia itself, according to the BBC.  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he had to act to defend South Ossetia’s civilians, most of whom have been given Russian citizenship.

And something of interest to the U.S. Georgia’s president said his country was calling home 1,000 troops from Iraq to help deal with the crisis.  Georgia is a close American ally whose shift toward the West and pursuit of NATO membership has angered Russia. The United States said Friday that it would send an envoy to the region to try to broker an end to the fighting in South Ossetia, and the European Union, NATO and Germany all called on both sides to stand down.

Why now? Georgia could be trying to take advantage of the Olympics this week to reclaim the territory. Russia also may be seeking to draw attention away from Abkhazia, another region that is in dispute between the two countries, where it has been under pressure to allow a settlement between pro-Russian and pro-Georgian factions.

So stayed tuned to this conflict over the next couple of weeks… it has the potential to blow up into a bigger crisis that could involve the whole region, and, if nothing else, cause further turmoil in the oil markets.

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