Georgian Conflict Leaves West Reeling And Russia Walking Tall

Despite years of heavy American political investment in Georgia, Putin has come out on top.

The Kremlin's decision today to call a halt to its five-day assault on Georgia leaves Russia calling the shots in the energy-rich Black Sea littoral and Caspian basin.

The quick and easy victory exposes the west's lack of leverage over a resurgent Russia despite years of heavy American political investment in Georgia.

In the tussle for supremacy in a vital strategic region, the balance has tilted. Russia has successfully deployed its firepower in another country with impunity for the first time since communism's collapse.

"This is not the Russia of 93 or 94, a terribly weakened Russia," said a European official. "The Russians are now negotiating from a position of strength."

The impact of Mikheil Saakashvili's rash gamble storming South Ossetia last week and of Vladimir Putin's comprehensive rout of the Georgians will ripple in many directions.

In less than a week, Putin has redrawn the geopolitical map of the contested region between Russia, Turkey, and Iran.

"We don't look very good," said a former Pentagon official long involved in Georgia. "We've been working on for four years and we've failed. Everyone's guilty. But Putin is playing his cards brilliantly. He knows exactly what he's doing and the consequences are all negative."

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GUARDIAN: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/12/georgia1

and has pro-Russian separatist regions. The Russian economy is strong, as its political pull, because oil prices are high.

Not only that they have the good fortune to have the Georgian army initiate the conflict by cracking down on the separatist regions, as Russia did in Chechnya, so that they can ride to the rescue of the ethnic Russians in those areas.

It doesn't get much better than that. (Too bad Chechnya didn't have a big powerful adjacent ally to help them.) The rule that Georgia needs to learn is, "If you are small, don't try to do the same things that the big guys get away with"

in a position to challenge the ussr and nato would`t do anything. thanks to the idiot in charge, we are no longer the big dog in the yard

Sure. But, he's playing against a sap.

:)

clusterfuck.

That said two superpowers are always better than one. This planet needs balance.

I agree wholeheartedly...

The fratboy is way, way, out of his league.

meanwhil, putin looked into bush's butthole and got a sense of his brain.

It turns out that matters.

Although my sympathies lie more w/Georgia, as South Ossetia is clearly within their borders, they were fools to think they could act like Serbians trying to hold onto their territory and not get thumped by Russia.


As for Russia, they just showed NATO & the UN that they'll do whatever they please.