Georgia: Push Comes to Shove

Sunday, 10 August 2008 19:00 GFP Columnist - Helen Briton Wheeler
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ImageWhile we in Australia were glued to our TV sets watching the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games on Friday, August 8, a very different contest began flaring half way across the world in Georgia.

It is not about sport, but about money and power. The setting is the Caucasus region, a frontline of big-power pushing and shoving over centuries of history. Here the political and economic interests of Russia collide with those of the Western powers.

What we have at the moment is a hot war with Georgia, a small democratic country, taking a pounding in a military conflict with Russia.


This is a breaking story, unfolding as we watch. So far, it appears the trigger was Georgia taking the offensive in its troublesome, autonomous province of South Ossetia, where there is a majority Russian population. This offensive took place on August 7, just as we were gearing up for the Olympic Games. Russia’s move, the next day, brought on the present showdown.

The West was a little slow to react but, once off the blocks, the combination of economic interests and political influence have kicked in. Negotiators are at work, belligerence is in the air. Right now, this is a hot war - and propaganda is flying along with the rockets. But could it be the beginning of the Cold War, Mark 2?

What is at stake? One, the peace, lives and property of people in the region, both ethnic Georgians and Russians. As ever in big power conflicts, ordinary people who just was to live their lives and bring up their children in peace are suffering. Death, injury, the loss of homes and property and the break-up of families are a reality in Georgia.

Two, Georgian democracy is under threat. Under its President Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia has been turning to Europe and the West. The country is already a member of the Council of Europe and is looking to join the European Union and NATO. This is the majority choice of the Georgian people.

It has not pleased Russia, Georgia’s powerful neighbour to the north. Georgia was part of the former USSR and, after gaining independence, has been showing independence in mind and action.

Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, has regained its economic strength and is looking to wield political influence and use economic muscle as a tool. There is every evidence that Russian leaders are thinking in Big Power terms. Small, independent, West-leaning Georgia, is an irritant and a danger in this.

The military pounding Georgia is presently taking is a lesson to the whole Caucasus region about Russia and its intentions. Neighbours take note: Georgian democracy is the victim here.


What are the West’s interests in Georgia? We are likely to hear considerable rhetoric about supporting democracy from the democratic countries of Europe and from the US. But there is more to it than that. Political interest and economic power are at stake. Georgia is a conduit for oil and gas supplies coming from the Baku oil and gas fields, which lie to the east, along pipelines through Georgia to the Mediterranean.

For the West, and Europe in particular, these pipelines are a vital alternative to supplies piped from Russia. In recent years, Russia has flexed its economic muscle by ramping up prices for oil and gas to its neighbours and threatening supplies to Europe. The West needs non-Russian oil and gas.

Russian leaders are playing the game of power and money. They appear unlikely to cease and desist. Europe and the US are answering, with money and power as their own propellant. The innocent people of Georgia are in a very hot seat.

Background:

Georgia is a small state, population 4.6 million, in the Caucasus region straddling the border between Europe and the Middle East. Russia is Georgia’s large neighbour to the north. Turkey, Iraq and Iran lie to the south. Georgia has coastline along the Black Sea, on its western side, and the Caspian Sea lies just to the east.

What is Georgia’s history? The Georgian culture has evolved over thousands of years and its people have born the brunt of push and shove by competing big powers over most of their turbulent history. The area has been dominated by the old Persian Empire, by the Seljuk Turks and, in recent centuries, by the Russians. Georgians know what it is like to be at the centre of big power conflict. The history of the Caucasus region has shown that big powers can be ruthless when their interests are at stake. War, pillage and ethnic cleansing – recent and past – are part of the record in this region of the world.

Image Courtesy of Economist.com



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