RUSSIA, GEORGIA AND SOUTH OSSETIA: NOTES ON A WAR
By Stephen Blank (8/20/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
By August 20, Russia has deployed approximately 20,000 land, sea and air forces to recapture South Ossetia, occupy Abkhazia and invade Georgia, while also bombing civilian and military targets, and instituting a naval blockade. Russia’s goals are clear: to annex South Ossetia and Abkhazia, destroy Georgia’s defense capacity and economy, and in all likelihood continue to occupy Georgia until Saakashvili’s government is deposed. In other words, Moscow seeks to reduce Georgia to a satellite renouncing its Euro-Atlantic integration.
RUSSIA’S DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN OVER SOUTH OSSETIA
By Robert M. Cutler (8/20/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
With Georgian government websites shut down by cyber-attacks in the days immediately preceding hostilities, the Russian story of its army coming to the defense of South Ossetia in the face of Georgian assault gained currency. This script is still often invoked as a preface to any commentary or reportage on current developments.
RUSSIA’S INVASION OF GEORGIA: BLEAK PROSPECTS FOR THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
By Blanka Hancilova and Magdalena Frichova (8/20/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Russia’s invasion of Georgia has gone far beyond the worst expectations of possible developments in the South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts. Moscow wants to dominate regions it perceives to be its sphere of influence.
GUAM AND THE GEORGIAN WAR
By Richard Weitz (8/20/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The members of GUAM had long sought to avoid further Russian military intervention on their territory, by seeking the resolution of the “frozen conflicts” in Georgia and other former countries of the former Soviet Union. Unfortunately, GUAM proved unable to make much of a contribution in resolving these conflicts, which constantly threatened to thaw, due to Russian opposition, West European indifference, and growing problems with wayward Moldova.
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Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, "Promise and Peril in the Caucasus," AFPC Insights, March 30, 2023.
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Putin's War In Ukraine and the Crimean War), 19fourtyfive, January 2, 2023
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Russia Needs Its Own Charles de Gaulle, Foreign Policy, July 21, 2022.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Rethinking Greater Central Asia: American and Western Stakes in the Region and How to Advance Them, June 2022
Oped Svante E. Cornell & Albert Barro, With referendum, Kazakh President pushes for reforms, Euractiv, June 3, 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell Russia's Southern Neighbors Take a Stand, The Hill, May 6, 2022.
Silk Road Paper Johan Engvall, Between Bandits and Bureaucrats: 30 Years of Parliamentary Development in Kyrgyzstan, January 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell, No, The War in Ukraine is not about NATO, The Hill, March 9, 2022.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, Kazakhstan’s Crisis Calls for a Central Asia Policy Reboot, The National Interest, January 34, 2022.
Book S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell, Strong and Unique: Three Decades of U.S.-Kazakhstan Partnership, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, December 2021.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr & Albert Barro, Political and Economic Reforms in Kazakhstan Under President Tokayev, November 2021.