A Stitch in Haste

A Stitch in Haste recommends the following report from the Congressional Research Service:

In the early 1990s, Georgia and its breakaway South Ossetia region had agreed to a Russian-mediated ceasefire that provided for Russian “peacekeepers” to be stationed in the region. Moscow extended citizenship and passports to most ethnic Ossetians. Simmering long-time tensions erupted on the evening of August 7, 2008, when South Ossetia and Georgia accused each other of launching intense artillery barrages against each other. Georgia claims that South Ossetian forces did not respond to a ceasefire appeal but intensified their shelling, “forcing” Georgia to send in troops. On August 8, Russia launched large-scale air attacks and dispatched troops to South Ossetia that engaged Georgian forces later in the day. By the morning of August 10, Russian troops had occupied the bulk of South Ossetia, reached its border with the rest of Georgia, and were shelling areas across the border. Russian troops occupied several Georgian cities. Russian warships landed troops in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region and took up positions off Georgia’s Black Sea coast.

As I noted in my one and only post on the conflict, until we as a global community devise a peaceful, rights-respecting way to move beyond the nation-state model of geopolitics, situations like this will continue to erupt.

To say — correctly — that Georgia is a democracy and Russia is a thugocracy is the beginning, but not the end, of the discussion. To say — correctly — that even in a democracy there should be at least some mechanism for increasing local self-determination and autonomy, up to and possibly including secession, is the beginning, but not the end, of the discussion.

It cannot be only about borders — and how to properly define them. It has to be about rights — and how to properly define them.

Previous CRS Recommendations:
Congress and the States
Political Activity by Tax-Exempt Institutions
The Law of Church and State
Constitutional Limits on Hate Crime Legislation
Same-Sex Marriage — Legal Issues
Saudi Arabia
The National Debt
Restricting Video Game Sales to Minors
Warrantless Wiretapping
Foreign Holdings of Public Debt
China’s Internet Censorship
Summary of Rumsfeld v. FAIR

Filed under: Foreign Affairs