RUSSIA AND GEORGIA – BACKGROUND TO CONFLICT
12 August 2008
After months of increased tension, and recent low-level hostilities, the conflict between Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia escalated in the early morning of 8 August 2008. The fighting became the most serious confrontation since the civil war between the two was concluded through a truce in 1992.
Georgian troops launched what appears to have been a coordinated military offensive against the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, with the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili emphasizing the need "to restore constitutional order" over the region.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, pledging "to respect the life and dignity of (to protect) Russian citizens wherever they are", responded by sending further troops to reinforce those already stationed in South Ossetia as part of the ceasefire.
On 9 August President Saakashvili declared a 15-day ‘state of war’ to facilitate mobilization.
South Ossetia
The people of South Ossetia are a distinct ethnic group, speaking a language distantly related to Farsi.
South Ossetia, which is in Georgia, is separated from North Ossetia, which is in Russia, by the border between the two countries running high in the Caucasus. Much of the region lies more than 1000m above sea level.
South Ossetia was an autonomous province of Georgia during the Soviet era. It declared independence from Georgia in 1990 and armed conflict between South Ossetian and Georgian forces ensued in 1991 and 1992.
The conflict ended in 1992 with a ceasefire and establishment of a tripartite peacekeeping force, with Russian, Ossetian and Georgian peacekeeping battalions. South Ossetia has enjoyed de facto independence since 1992, although not recognized by any other state. Many of its ethnic Ossetian inhabitants have, however, acquired Russian passports. A third of the population is reported to be ethnically Georgian.
Tensions, never far below the surface, increased after the 2004 election of President Saakashvili, who pledged to restore Georgian territorial integrity by re-establishing control over South Ossetia and the other unrecognized region of Abkhazia, in the north-west.
Tensions have also increased between Georgia and Russia this year over Abkhazia, where Russia has troops operating as a peacekeeping force mandated by the Commonwealth of Independent States. The UN also has an observer contingent there, known as UNOMIG, established in August 1993 to verify compliance with the ceasefire agreement.
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Georgian troops launched what appears to have been a coordinated military offensive against the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, with the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili emphasizing the need "to restore constitutional order" over the region.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, pledging "to respect the life and dignity of (to protect) Russian citizens wherever they are", responded by sending further troops to reinforce those already stationed in South Ossetia as part of the ceasefire.
On 9 August President Saakashvili declared a 15-day ‘state of war’ to facilitate mobilization.
South Ossetia
The people of South Ossetia are a distinct ethnic group, speaking a language distantly related to Farsi.
South Ossetia, which is in Georgia, is separated from North Ossetia, which is in Russia, by the border between the two countries running high in the Caucasus. Much of the region lies more than 1000m above sea level.
South Ossetia was an autonomous province of Georgia during the Soviet era. It declared independence from Georgia in 1990 and armed conflict between South Ossetian and Georgian forces ensued in 1991 and 1992.
The conflict ended in 1992 with a ceasefire and establishment of a tripartite peacekeeping force, with Russian, Ossetian and Georgian peacekeeping battalions. South Ossetia has enjoyed de facto independence since 1992, although not recognized by any other state. Many of its ethnic Ossetian inhabitants have, however, acquired Russian passports. A third of the population is reported to be ethnically Georgian.
Tensions, never far below the surface, increased after the 2004 election of President Saakashvili, who pledged to restore Georgian territorial integrity by re-establishing control over South Ossetia and the other unrecognized region of Abkhazia, in the north-west.
Tensions have also increased between Georgia and Russia this year over Abkhazia, where Russia has troops operating as a peacekeeping force mandated by the Commonwealth of Independent States. The UN also has an observer contingent there, known as UNOMIG, established in August 1993 to verify compliance with the ceasefire agreement.
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Frozen Conflict Becomes Hot War: Russia Invades Georgia
by Chris Borgen , August 8th, 2008
The frozen conflict over the Georgian separatist region South Ossetia has become a shooting war.
The separatist conflicts in the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have often been termed “frozen conflicts,” along with other long-standing separatist crises in Moldova and Azerbaijan (and some would add Kosovo). There are many reasons why these conflict have been seemingly intractable. Factors ranging from Russian assistance to the separatists (especially in the Georgian and Moldovan cases), a sense of ethnic difference (justified or not), historical grievances, and factions that seek to derail negotiated solutions are problems in all of these conflicts.
Georgia , however has been in the unenviable position of having two distinct separatist regions: one in Abkhazia and the other in South Ossetia. Russia has taken an increasingly interventionist stance on the situation in Georgia, especially since Kosovo’s declaration of independence.
This crisis points out an interesting divergeance between how Russia talks about international law and how the EU and US do, as I’ve written about here. In short, when it comes to the frozen conflicts the EU and the U.S. focus on the international norms concerning sovereignty, territorial integrity, and that self-determination does not lead to a right of secession. Russia, however, tends to focus on norms concerning minority rights and the ability of states to defend the interests of “co-nationals.” Seemingly in an attempt to fortify the “co-nationals” argument, Russia has been recently providing passports to just about anyone in Abkhazia or South Ossetia who asked for one. Russia then argues that these people–who had until then lived their lives in Georgia–are best understood as Russian citizens. This “passportization” policy has been widely criticized.
