Caucasian Conflict in Georgia
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Despite a ceasefire agreement in the fight between Georgia and Russia, Russian troops have rolled even deeper into Georgia, in the biggest foreign engagement of Russian military forces since the fall of the Soviet Union. At issue: Georgia’s attempt late last week to reassert control over its breakaway South Ossetia region–and Russia’s claim that, in the process, Georgian troops attacked Russian soldiers and citizens.
On Monday, we reviewed Georgia’s history, to help put the fight in context. Today, we’re answering more questions about Russia, Georgia, and the two breakaway regions that keep coming between them: South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
What Is South Ossetia?
South Ossetia is a small but highly mountainous region along the Georgia-Russia border. Roughly the size of Rhode Island (the smallest U.S. state), it’s home to perhaps 70,000 people. Perhaps two-thirds of them are ethnic Ossetians.
Though technically part of Georgia, the region has mainly governed itself for more than a decade, since Ossetian separatists seized control there in the 1990s, and Russian troops promptly arrived to help keep the peace.
South Ossetia has close ethnic and cultural ties to North Ossetia, a region that remains within Russia–just over the border (and the Caucasus Mountains) from Georgian South Ossetia. In recent years, Moscow has made it easy for South Ossetians to become Russian citizens, even issuing passports to thousands of people who technically live in Georgia.
What Is Abkhazia?
Like South Ossetia, Abkhazia technically lies within Georgia but has largely governed itself for years. It covers about twice as much land as South Ossetia and lies between the Russian border in the north and the Black Sea in the south. In fact, Abkhazia was once a prime vacation destination for Soviets who could afford swanky seaside getaways.
These days it’s home to perhaps 170,000 people, most of whom are ethnic Abkhaz. But the Abkhaz haven’t always been the dominant demographic group. Ethnic Georgians outnumbered them until the Soviet Union fell.
When Georgia declared its independence, Abkhaz separatists decided to break away, too. Georgian troops arrived in 1993 to try to keep Abkhazia within Georgia, but they were largely driven out–thanks partly to unofficial support from Russia, which later sent in soldiers to keep the peace there, too.
What’s Russia Got to Do with It?
Both of Georgia’s breakaway regions were once part of the Russian Empire, and after that part of the Soviet Union. So was Georgia itself. In fact, Moscow nearly always gave the orders in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, from the early 19th century to the Soviet Union’s fall.
Many Russians still view Georgia as part of the “near abroad,” a region where challenges to Russian influence and prestige are simply intolerable. And recently, Georgia has been apt to act in ways the Russians find inapt.
After the “Rose Revolution” of 2003, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili promised to restore Georgia’s territorial integrity and to pursue membership in NATO, the Russian military’s old Cold War adversary. Russia doesn’t like the idea of NATO members on its borders–any more than South Ossetia and Abkhazia like the idea of being ruled by Georgia, or Georgia likes the idea of (again) being ruled by Russia.
–Steve Sampson
