Latest Articles about Georgia
UN MISSION CONFIRMS GEORGIAN, REJECTS RUSSIAN VERSION OF AIR CLASH
On May 26 the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) released its report on the downing of a unmanned Georgian aerial vehicle (UAV), which was reconnoitering Russian-controlled Abkhazia on April 20. Contrary to UNOMIG’s traditional tolerance of Russian pressures on Georgia, this report holds... MORE
A GEORGIAN CHARM OFFENSIVE IN MOSCOW
In an apparent attempt to defuse a tense diplomatic and military conflict with Russia over the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Georgian government is starting a major drive in Moscow to improve relations. The new Georgian ambassador to Moscow, Erosi Kicmarishvili, who... MORE
MOSCOW ENCOURAGES NORTH-SOUTH OSSETIAN IRREDENTISM AGAINST GEORGIA
On May 20 Moscow signaled officially that it was prepared to promote annexation of Georgia’s region of South Ossetia to the Russian Federation. The Russian government seems set to underwrite an ethnic irredenta there, seeking to put an Ossetian face on Russian state expansionism (as... MORE
GEORGIA HOLDS PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN A DANGEROUS SECURITY ENVIRONMENT
Georgia is holding parliamentary elections on May 21 against a backdrop of Russian military threats and economic and transport blockades overall Western passivity in the face of those pressures. These parliamentary elections are the latest challenge in the series of problems that have befallen Georgia... MORE
U.N. RESOLUTION ON ABKHAZIA SHOWS WHO’S WHO ON ETHNIC CLEANSING
On May 15 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Georgian resolution recognizing the right of expellees to return to Georgia’s Abkhazia region. The voting was 14 countries in favor, 11 against, and 105 abstaining, with another 63 countries not voting. Adoption of the resolution... MORE
RUSSIAN JOURNALISTS USED AS CHANNEL FOR TBILISI-MOSCOW CONTACTS
Last week Georgia and its breakaway province of Abkhazia were close to a war that would surely have involved Russia. An armed conflict could escalate into an all-out war, engulfing the entire Caucasus. Russia has accused the Georgians of concentrating forces in the upper Kodori... MORE
THE WEST CAN RESPOND MORE EFFECTIVELY TO RUSSIA’S ASSAULT ON GEORGIA: PART III
International silence about the ethnic cleansing of Georgians from Abkhazia is a striking feature of the continuing debate on the Russia-Georgia conflict. Moscow’s overt moves in recent days to annex Abkhazia politically and militarily capitalize on that ethnic cleansing and would render it irreversible. The... MORE
THE WEST CAN RESPOND MORE EFFECTIVELY TO RUSSIA’S ASSAULT ON GEORGIA: PART II
Russia has openly recognized politically and “legally” (in terms of Russian law) the secessions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia and has capped that recognition with acts of military aggression in Georgian territory and air space. This is the cumulative meaning of Russia’s recent... MORE
THE WEST RESPONDS WEAKLY TO RUSSIAN CHALLENGES IN GEORGIA: PART I
On May 6 the Bush administration issued the strongest Western statements thus far in response to Russia’s overt seizure of Abkhazia. Blaming the Russian government for its “provocative actions that have increased tensions with Georgia [and] significantly and unnecessarily heightened tensions in the region,” White... MORE
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS PASSIVE AS RUSSIA MOVES TROOPS INTO ABKHAZIA
According to United Nations Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN currently has 110,000 peacekeepers in 20 missions worldwide and is set to increase the number to 130,000. That is almost twice the number of NATO troops involved in expeditionary operations. The... MORE