The South Ossetia problem is one we need to keep an eye on. South Ossetia is at the northern central part of Georgia which lies on the eastern edge of the Black Sea.
When the Soviet Union existed the region was a semi independent homeland. The people claim kinship with the North Ossetians who remain part of the Russian Federation whereas the world recognises South Ossetia as being part of Georgia, an independent state since 1991. South Ossetia has itself been de facto an independent State for some years now although we, and of course the Georgians, do not recognise it.
Georgia’s first leader was Edvard Shevardnadze, formerly Yeltsin’s prime minister, but since 2004 it has been Mikheil Saakashvili, regarded by many as a bit of a hothead. On 8th August, presumably hoping world leaders would be at the Olympic Games and not notice, he ordered a military clampdown in S. Ossetia, whose people make their living largely from smuggling. Russia reacted with tanks and planes, saying it was defending its people, and suddenly we have what has been described as a Rhineland moment.
The importance for the West is that a major oil pipeline runs from Baku on the Caspian through Georgia and into Turkey an thence the Mediterranean. This is one of the few which is not controlled by Russia. It runs about 35 miles south of the Georgian capital Tbilisi which has been bombed and some say the Russian planes have targeted the pipeline. The destruction of the pipeline would greatly increase western dependence on Russian energy.
There is no single guilty party here; everyone has overreacted, but we shall have to defend that pipeline. The UN has had a couple of attempts to come up with a form of words but failed. The question is, how do we defend our interests without a war?
When the Soviet Union existed the region was a semi independent homeland. The people claim kinship with the North Ossetians who remain part of the Russian Federation whereas the world recognises South Ossetia as being part of Georgia, an independent state since 1991. South Ossetia has itself been de facto an independent State for some years now although we, and of course the Georgians, do not recognise it.
Georgia’s first leader was Edvard Shevardnadze, formerly Yeltsin’s prime minister, but since 2004 it has been Mikheil Saakashvili, regarded by many as a bit of a hothead. On 8th August, presumably hoping world leaders would be at the Olympic Games and not notice, he ordered a military clampdown in S. Ossetia, whose people make their living largely from smuggling. Russia reacted with tanks and planes, saying it was defending its people, and suddenly we have what has been described as a Rhineland moment.
The importance for the West is that a major oil pipeline runs from Baku on the Caspian through Georgia and into Turkey an thence the Mediterranean. This is one of the few which is not controlled by Russia. It runs about 35 miles south of the Georgian capital Tbilisi which has been bombed and some say the Russian planes have targeted the pipeline. The destruction of the pipeline would greatly increase western dependence on Russian energy.
There is no single guilty party here; everyone has overreacted, but we shall have to defend that pipeline. The UN has had a couple of attempts to come up with a form of words but failed. The question is, how do we defend our interests without a war?
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