Late last week Russia invaded Georgia after Georgia attempted to regain South Ossetia, a pro-Russian enclave inside Georgian borders that has been a de facto republic since Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in the early nineties.
Violating a country’s sovereign territory is not something to be taken lightly, and Georgia has the support of the United States, NATO, the United Nations, and the European Union. However, currently none of its allies are willing to back them up militarily.
Today the Russian military pushed past the pro-Russian enclaves they claimed to be defending and attacked Gori, a large city in central Georgia. Georgia has offered a cease-fire, but has been refused. It is believed that Russia is attempting to weaken the Georgian military and overthrow Georgia’s pro-democracy and pro-US president.
The New York Times has an very interesting article on the events leading up to this conflict. Georgia has been a thorn in Russia’s side for a long time. They want to join NATO, which Russia finds completely unacceptable. The entire situation is too complex for me to do a good job summarizing. If you’re interested, read the article.
As the article mentions, Georgia has been comparing themselves to Czechoslovakia prior to World War II. I think it is a very apt comparison. If the West allows Russia to take over all, or even a portion of Georgia, things could get ugly. Russia doesn’t like the position it’s been in since the Soviet Union broke up, and it means to change it.
This is going to get very interesting before all is said and done.