Russia Georgia Conflict In August 2008

In the summer of 2008, a conflict that appeared to have begun in the breakaway Georgian territory of South Ossetia rapidly escalated to become the most significant crisis in European security in a decade. The implications of the Russian-Georgian war will be understood differently depending on one's narrative of what transpired and perspective on the broader context. This book is designed to present the facts about the events of August 2008 along with comprehensive coverage of the background to those events. It brings together a wealth of expertise on the South Caucasus and Russian foreign policy, with contributions by Russian, Georgian, European, and American experts on the region.

Contents: (1) Recent Developments; (2) Background; (3) Renewed Conflict in South Ossetia: Actions in Abkhazia and Western Georgia; Ceasefire; Occupation Operations; Russia¿s Partial Withdrawal; Russia Recognizes the Independence of the Regions; Follow-On Ceasefire Agreement; Status Conference Meetings in Geneva; (4) Implications for Georgia and Russia: Assessing the Causes of the Conflict; Casualties and Displaced Persons; (5) International Response; Stand-off on OSCE Monitoring; Other Developments in 2009; Internat. Humanitarian and Rebuilding Assistance; (6) U.S. Response: U.S. Reaction to Russia¿s Recognition Declaration; U.S.-Georgia Charter; U.S. Assistance; Georgia and NATO Membership Action Plan. Illus.

In this monograph, the authors state that Russia planned the war against Georgia in August 2008 aiming for the annexation of Abkhazia, weakening the Saakashvili regime, and prevention of NATO enlargement. According to them, while Russia won the campaign, it also exposed its own military as badly needing reform. The war also demonstrated weaknesses of the NATO and the European Union security systems.

In this monograph, the authors state that Russia planned the war against Georgia in August 2008 aiming for the annexation of Abkhazia, weakening the Saakashvili regime, and prevention of NATO enlargement. According to them, while Russia won the campaign, it also exposed its own military as badly needing reform. The war also demonstrated weaknesses of the NATO and the European Union security systems.

The publication of this book coincides with the second anniversary of the armed conflict between Russia and Georgia on August 8-12, 2008, now dubbed the Five Day War. The conflict was triggered by Georgia's ambitious and nationalistic president, Mikhail Saakashvili, who attempted a "blitzkrieg" to conquer the former Georgian autonomy of South Ossetia, which had proclaimed independence. That attempt led to a military intervention by Russia, which acted as the guarantor of peace in the region, and the first "official war" between Russia and one of the former Soviet republics. This work contains six essays, from a primarily Russian perspective, which provide an in-depth analysis of the political, social, economic, and military context for and causes of the war, the nature of wartime military operations, the human and material costs of the brief struggle, and the war's likely implications for the future.

The Russian-Georgian War of August 2008 stands out for its socio-political, international, diplomatic, geostrategic, economic and moral-psychological results. Despite the fact that only some years have passed since the end of the war and we all are witnesses and participants of the preparation and of the accomplishment of this dramatic event, there are still many unanswered questions. There are more mysteries in respect of the actions of the main participants of this dramatic event, which dispose historians to study those events thoroughly "hot on the trail", not to wait for a "historical distance", and fill up secret documents with logical arguments and noteworthy hypotheses. The scientific conference, held in Tbilisi in the large hall of The Georgian National Academy of Sciences in the summer of 2014, was aimed precisely to the approbation of the new scholarly ideas on different aspects regarding the preparation and proceedings of the War of August 2008. The conference was attended by representatives of the historical community of Georgia and by the mass media. The reports were made at the conference by professors and scholars from Sukhumi State University, Akhaltsikhe Educational University and Tbilisi Scientific Centre for Historical, Ethnological, Religious Study and Propaganda. A former Minister of Defense of Georgia, General Giorgi (Gia) Karkarashvili, also sent his report. The present collection of works is simply a publication of an English version of these conference materials to which a critical analysis of the sensational book in Georgia "A Little War that Shook the World", written by an eminent political-scientist and diplomat, R D Asmus, was added. In our opinion, it will help American readers to comprehend the issues more profoundly.

This essay as part of the Nimble Books series "The Decisive Battles of the 21st century" describes the battles carried out in August 2008 around South Ossetia and Abkhazia, after Georgia unleashed an attack upon them. The foreword is by a renowned professor of Geopolitics of the Hellenic Military Academy, Dr Constantinos Grivas. The Russians fought on the side of the breakaway Republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in a war, which is also known as "The Five Day War." There is an extensive analysis on the diplomatic prelude occurring prior to the beginning of the hostilities, debating the causes that led Georgia to attack the breakaways and Russia to defend them. The prelude covers deep historical topics since the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent rise of Gamsakhurdia, the nationalist Georgian leader, Eduard Shevardnadze, whose toppling by the Rose Revolution brought Mikhail Saakashvili to power. Military operations are described and analyzed thoroughly starting from the skirmishes between Georgians and Ossetians and culminating with the war's most decisive battle, the battle of Tskhinvali. The essay sheds light on the new Russian military doctrine and the reforms, which took place in the Russian Army, following the Five Day War, in all sectors including the Army, VDV troops, the Air Force and the Navy. Finally, an extensive analysis is carried out both in the framework of geoeconomics and that of international relations and geopolitics, around Russia's future diplomatic ties with the EU and the US, separately, including the recent events in the US and European Economies, which have led to the manifestation of a European power centralized around Germany. The battle of Tskhinvali may well have settled the fate of the Caucasus for the 21st century, and foreshadowed the campaigns in Crimea, Ukraine, and beyond.

In the early 1990s, Georgia and its breakaway South Ossetia region had agreed to a Russian-mediated ceasefire that provided for Russian "peacekeepers" to be stationed in the region. Moscow extended citizenship and passports to most ethnic Ossetians. Simmering long-time tensions escalated on the evening of August 7, 2008, when South Ossetia and Georgia accused each other of launching intense artillery barrages against each other. Georgia claims that South Ossetian forces did not respond to a ceasefire appeal but intensified their shelling, "forcing" Georgia to send in troops. This book provides a post-conflict assessment of the Russian-Georgian conflict of August 2008, with a focus on the implications for U.S. interests and the organisational change in the Russian airborne forces.