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Georgia Case Study

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The line-up was impressive. The presidents of Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia stood beside Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi. As members of a unique fraternity, each represented a nation which, at one time, fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. Each understood the imposing weight of political and economic encroachment by Moscow. Identification as a Soviet satellite or republic dictated who your allies were, who your enemies were, and even which holidays you celebrated. It didn’t matter that the Berlin Wall crumbled in 1989. Political memory remains crystal clear among these developing democracies. Forging commercial relations with the West, joining alliances such as NATO and throwing off the wearying …show more content…

This unnatural land split ignored ethnic realities, fueling tensions on both sides. South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia on November 28, 1991. No one seemed to notice much. Prominent western European nations did not rush to acknowledge the South Ossetians’ claim to independence. NATO recognized the area as a legitimate region of Georgia. Simmering dissension burst into flames when the Georgian military rolled into South Ossetia on Aug. 7 in response to Russian troop movements near the border. The Russian army crossed into the region the next day. President Dmitry Medvedev challenged Georgia’s sovereignty by sending troops onto foreign, though familiar, soil. The Russians maintain their presence is to preserve Ossetian autonomy. Vigorous land and air assaults, coupled with encroachment further south beyond South Ossetia’s border, imply more complex political motives. Ethnic Ossetians comprise roughly 67 percent of South Ossetia’s population. If the region pursues and achieves independence, this may lead to considerable shuffling and displacement of people. Estimates of numbers killed, including civilians, seem too unreliable to commit to print. Villages are smoldering, cities have been bombed and desperate refugees dot the landscape. As I write this, negotiations have started but bullets continue to fly. It somehow seemed a simpler, cleaner break when Kosovo declared

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