This is the best article I've yet read on the whole Russian-Georgian contretemps. As Dobbs says, there's plenty of blame to go around.
The Russians were clearly itching for a fight, but the behavior of Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili has been erratic and provocative. The United States may have stoked the conflict by encouraging Saakashvili to believe that he enjoyed American protection, when the West's ability to impose its will in this part of the world is actually quite limited.
Read the rest. He examines the perspectives of Georgia, Russia and the United States and says each made mistakes.
Here's an analysis from Misha Glenny, a European journalist who wrote an excellent book about the breakup of Yugoslavia back in 1996.
I read the Michael Dobbs article; excellent all round. I've been following the mess in the Economist, but even they didn't get the historic background Dobbs put in.
Posted by: hedera at August 21, 2008 07:28 PM