As I write this, bombs are exploding in Georgia, a small Caucasian republic on the Black Sea. And from where do these bombs come? Suicide bombers? Suitcase explosives? Car bombs? Answer: none of the above.
In an age where the nature of war has changed in the public image from tank battles to exploding marketplaces, the idea of rolling tanks and dogfights seem like a bit of an anachronism. But war of that more classical variety is happening now – the small republic of Georgia, a vibrant, multiethnic, tenacious democracy of under 5 million people, is being invaded by massive neighbor and geopolitical bully Russia. Why? Answers will depend on whom you ask, but some facts remain consistent, namely, that post-Soviet Georgia-Russian relations have been a general narrative of ever-increasing degrees of Georgian independence – in law and fact – and obstinate Russian resistance to assertiveness by its former dominions.
And today is no different. Amid tensions that have been progressively escalating since my Peace Corps service in Georgia over two years ago, Georgian efforts to bolster and defend its internationally recognized territorial integrity have been met with invasive Russian trade embargoes, massive arms build-ups, and flagrant patronage for tiny separatist pseudo-statelets – governed by megalomaniacal autocrats with ties to traffickers and criminal elements – as a response Georgia’s democratic, liberalizing, and Westernizing turn.
As for the current situation concerning the separatist zone of South Ossetia, the situation is both alarming and highly curious. Only hours ago, in response to increased conflict, the Georgian government announced a unilateral ceasefire in an attempt to defuse the situation, ever-mindful of considerable numbers of Russian ‘peacekeepers’ in South Ossetia and powerful Russian units mobilized (with increased recent activity) on Georgia’s borders. This cease fire, along with an offer of immediate direct talks with Russian and separatist authorities, was not only rebuffed, but was met with increased attacks by separatist militias against villages in South Ossetia loyal to the legitimate, democratically elected republican government in Tbilisi.
The situation was clearly and understandably untenable, prompting Georgian authorities to respond to South Ossetian attacks with a military offensive, prompting massive Russian retaliation and intervention. Russia claims its ‘citizens’ in South Ossetia, where 90% of the population holds Russian passports, are under attack. What Russia will not say, however, is the way its government gave fast-tracked passports, pensions, and military patronage to the separatist population to prolong pro-Moscow, secessionist sentiments and sabotage any possibility of reconciliation between separatists and Georgia.
And here the situation stands, potentially at the twilight of conflict harboring disturbing echoes of Kosovo, Germany’s 1938 annexation of Czechoslovakia, and even Russian mobilizations kick starting the First World War. Today’s revanchist Russia, flush with petrodollars and increased confidence, is eager to spend its geopolitical capital to re-project its influence in a neo-tsarist foreign policy with proportions not seen since the Berlin Airlift.
Almost two years ago, I wrote a piece titled “Run for the Rose Revolutionaries” on TCS Daily, where I petitioned for international support – particularly from the democratic West – for a vibrant but nascent democratic Georgia reaching out to the United States, Europe, and the democratic world for support and friendship in its then newly-found domestic and geopolitical independence despite persistent overt and subversive opposition by Russia and its undemocratic separatist clients. The record from the West has been mixed, to say the least. Despite general support from the United States – though often watered-down by a State Department more interested in extracting marginal diplomatic increments (see: Russia-Iran) than doing the right thing – much of the world has been unfairly neutral.
In early April, despite timid support from the Bush administration, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s member states overwhelmingly denied membership tracks for Georgia and Ukraine, citing a smokescreen of non sequitors to obfuscate an overwhelming bow to Russian demands because of concerns over energy supplies.
While the American population is most assuredly tired of rhetorical comparisons made to appeasement to Nazi Germany before World War Two, the ongoing issue of the West being cowed into permitting Russian aggression unabated and unopposed for years is truly coming to a head. All those famous statements by Secretary Rice about Russia’s amazing, secret friendship with the West has turned out to be little more than wishful thinking and now a democratic ally is facing invasion.
On our televisions, talking heads and pundits discuss the ‘allegations’ of Russians bombing Georgian targets outside of South Ossetia, widening the conflict outside the conflict zones. While these ‘experts’ shrug, my Georgian friends tell me of the whistling bombs and the shuddering ground beneath them as giant Russia strikes at a small but proud democracy.
No more muddling. Our response must be muscular and unequivocal. We stand with against Russian aggression, we stand for democracy, and we stand with Georgia.
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Update:
Blackfive has an excellent analysis worth a read.
1 Comment
August 9, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I only have one thing to say – thank you for this fair review!