Comments on the Ossetia Conflict
Aug. 10th, 2008 02:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
4thofelevenSo, is it just me, or is 90% of the western coverage of the current Caucusus crisis bloody awful? I mean, I understand, they don't want to be wasting time on pointless irrelevancies like major regional conflicts when there's a major sporting event going on, and sure, most of the time, "It's all Russia's fault!" actually is the correct interpretation of events... but this time? No, it's actually a lot more complicated that "Evil Ruskies invade plucky little democracy during Olympics!".
To begin with, this isn't a new situation - South Ossetia has been de facto independant since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia may claim to be defending its territorial integrity, but the modern Republic of Georgia has never actually had effective control over Ossetia or Abkhazia. There's been a number of conflicts in the area, and this is just the most recent in a number of attempts by the Tbilisi government to force its authority over all the territories contained within the former Georgian SSR.
A fair number of media reports have managed to pay attention long enough to report accurately that the majority of South Ossetians have Russian Federation citizenship. Again, this is not a new development; the Russian government tends to make it very easy for citizens of the former Soviet Union to gain Russian citizenship. While cynics might see this as an easy way for Russia to justify interference in the affairs of former Soviet territories by claiming to be defending its citizens - and certainly Russia does not have clean hands in the Caucusus - it is a fairly reasonably policy for the successor to a large empire to have. Specifically, in the case of South Ossetia, it is understandable that the ethnically and linguisticly different Ossetian people would prefer to be part of Russia - which includes North Ossetia - than being citizens of the increasingly nationalistic Georgian Republic.
Now, a lot of news outlets have drawn attention to the surprising speed and coordination of Russian response to the Georgian assault on the Ossetian capital. Unfortunatly, since they've failed to provide any historical context for the conflict, the result has been to cast Russian actions in a far more sinister light than would probably be justified. As I said, there have been conflicts between Georgia and South Ossetian seperatists since the fall of the Soviet Union, and Russian peacekeepers have been there almost as long. With such a long-running conflict on their border, involving a seperatist group that seeks unification with Russia, it would be suprising if the Russians did not have long established plans for military intervention drawn up.
Now, let's be fair, Russia's certainly not acting out of the goodness of their hearts; it's in their interests to see Georgia divided. However, it should not be forgotten that it was Georgia, not Russia, that started this crisis. The western media, unfortunatly, is determined, as usual, to cast every crisis and political struggle in the former Soviet Union as a battle between pro-western democracy and anti-western autocracy. In this case, since Russia by definition must represent the anti-western side, Georgia has become the pro-western faction by default. It's a simplistic reading of a complicated scenario in which, for once, the Russians may actually have the moral high ground.
To begin with, this isn't a new situation - South Ossetia has been de facto independant since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia may claim to be defending its territorial integrity, but the modern Republic of Georgia has never actually had effective control over Ossetia or Abkhazia. There's been a number of conflicts in the area, and this is just the most recent in a number of attempts by the Tbilisi government to force its authority over all the territories contained within the former Georgian SSR.
A fair number of media reports have managed to pay attention long enough to report accurately that the majority of South Ossetians have Russian Federation citizenship. Again, this is not a new development; the Russian government tends to make it very easy for citizens of the former Soviet Union to gain Russian citizenship. While cynics might see this as an easy way for Russia to justify interference in the affairs of former Soviet territories by claiming to be defending its citizens - and certainly Russia does not have clean hands in the Caucusus - it is a fairly reasonably policy for the successor to a large empire to have. Specifically, in the case of South Ossetia, it is understandable that the ethnically and linguisticly different Ossetian people would prefer to be part of Russia - which includes North Ossetia - than being citizens of the increasingly nationalistic Georgian Republic.
Now, a lot of news outlets have drawn attention to the surprising speed and coordination of Russian response to the Georgian assault on the Ossetian capital. Unfortunatly, since they've failed to provide any historical context for the conflict, the result has been to cast Russian actions in a far more sinister light than would probably be justified. As I said, there have been conflicts between Georgia and South Ossetian seperatists since the fall of the Soviet Union, and Russian peacekeepers have been there almost as long. With such a long-running conflict on their border, involving a seperatist group that seeks unification with Russia, it would be suprising if the Russians did not have long established plans for military intervention drawn up.
Now, let's be fair, Russia's certainly not acting out of the goodness of their hearts; it's in their interests to see Georgia divided. However, it should not be forgotten that it was Georgia, not Russia, that started this crisis. The western media, unfortunatly, is determined, as usual, to cast every crisis and political struggle in the former Soviet Union as a battle between pro-western democracy and anti-western autocracy. In this case, since Russia by definition must represent the anti-western side, Georgia has become the pro-western faction by default. It's a simplistic reading of a complicated scenario in which, for once, the Russians may actually have the moral high ground.
Comparison
on 2008-08-14 03:11 pm (UTC)1. Serbia
1. Georgia
2. Kosovo
2. South Ossetia
3. Etnicity in Kosovo: Albanians
3. Etnicity in S. Ossetia: Russians
4. In 1999 Serbia (Miloshevikj) attacked Kosovo
4. In 2008 Georgia attacked S. Ossetia
5. In 1999 NATO bombarded Serbia (and Kosovo) to protect Albanian people.
5. In 2008 Russia bombarded Georgia (and S. Ossetia) to protect Russian people.
6. In 2001 Miloshevikj was sent to the court in Hague.
6. In 2010 Saakashvili will be sent to the court in Hague.