Caucasus House: The August War: From Political Confrontation to Military Escalation

Caucasus House

Caucasus House is the first organization and think-tank in Canada which attempts to assemble the panel of experts focusing on Caucasus region and initiate the exchange of scholarly publications, ideas, research and exploration of this vital region on the main crossroads of Europe and Asia. Its mission is to engage in exchange of ideas and discussions with leading scholars, experts and writers on Caucasus to enhance the awareness of the complex social, political, cultural and economic aspects of the region for the broad public, including policymakers, journalists, students and media.

Monday, December 1, 2008

The August War: From Political Confrontation to Military Escalation

By Bruno Coppieters

The August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia has altered our perception of European security. For the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia used massive military force outside its borders. According to a broadly accepted interpretation of events, Russia wanted to influence discussions within the NATO alliance on a Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Georgia and Ukraine. Russia’s “disproportional” response to Georgia’s use of force against South Ossetia demonstrated that the full integration of Tbilisi into the Atlantic alliance would carry a number of serious costs. Another reading of events, which focuses more on intra-state conflicts in Georgia and various parties’ use of confrontation policies, has received less attention.

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