http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com The World Affairs Blog Network Mon, 17 Aug 2009 08:17:28 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Not even 30 km outside of Tbilisi and the first road sign to Sukhumi, Abkhazia’s de-facto capital, is a reminder of a legacy and war that continues to haunt the imaginations of IDPs who wish to return home and Georgians who wish to reintegrate the break away region. It ... http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/08/17/georgias-other-idps/ The BBC reports today from South Ossetia that not much has been done for the South Ossetians whose homes were destroyed or damaged in last August's war.  The Georgian minority long ago fled or were forced out.  The South Ossetians are left totally dependent on their protectors in Moscow -- ... http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/06/16/ten-months-on/ Georgia may have once been America's darling in the Caucasus, but no more.  As pressure mounts from within on Georgia's young President, Mikhail Saakashvili, the political dynamics outside the country seem ever less favorable.  First there was the world economic crisis, reducing trade and foreign aid.  Then there was the ... http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/04/14/no-blooming-rose/ Russia faces 'systemic threat' from extremism: Medvedev President Dmitry Medvedev warned that Russia faced a "systemic threat" from extremism and urged security chiefs to be on alert for possible unrest linked to the economic crisis.The comments came amid continued violence in parts of Russia's historically restive North Caucasus... Plouffe to Donate ... http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/02/09/in-the-news/ With the signing last Friday of a U.S.-Georgian "Charter on Strategic Partnership," the difficult politics of the Caucasus enter a new phase in several critical respects. First, with respect to the Georgian-Russian relationship, it signals a clear determination by Saakashvili government to develop a security relationship with the West, ... http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/01/12/charter-politics/ What is it about the Caucasus crisis, now submerged below the sightline of international attention, that we need to remember as we close out 2008? For one thing, recall that now there are Russian troops in South Ossetia, where there were none last August. Second, consider that soon there will be no ... http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/12/25/mixed-signals/ Those who have been following the dueling versions of what happened in South Ossetia last August can find the latest installment of The Truth in today's Wall Street Journal.  In it, Mikheil Saakashvili attacks "misleading reports" by an OSCE observer who was in South Ossetia on August 7.  It was ... http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/12/02/the-truth-is-out-there/ As we pass into October, what has happened to the Guns of August? Those who recall Barbara Tuchman's famous book about the origins of WWI must remember the uncanny way that Europe gives rise to conflict in late summer. In Georgia -- or what used to be ... http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/10/01/the-guns-of-august/ The head of Georgia's Parliament, David Barakidze, says his country is being targeted for "regime change -- by economic means," and is appealing to the United States and other countries for major economic assistance. In an interview from Denver, where he is lobbying leading delegates to the Democratic National Convention, Barakidze ... http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/08/26/georgia-at-the-brink/ Now that the bloodshed has stopped in the Caucasus, constructing a new policy approach for the West is imperative. Western, Georgian and Russian sources all agree on the following: Russian forces have largely, but not completely, left Georgia proper. They remain in Georgia in what has been called a "new ... http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/08/24/redlines/