> Global Issues - on 01/09/2008

Georgian Frontlines: Challenging the West

By Jean-Sylvestre MONGRENIER, associate Fellow at the Thomas More Institute and Fellow at the Institut Français de Géopolitique (Paris VIII Vincennes-Saint-Denis University). Tribune N°19 available in French only.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like the “11/9” and the “9/11”, the date of August 8th 2008 is a turning point in the International relations, especially between the West and Russia. Since the beginning of the nineties, the Russian leaders have supported the separatist regimes of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, therefore threatening the territorial integrity of Georgia.

Following some long months of Russian and separatist provocations, Georgia has launched a military operation in South Ossetia to put an end to the artillery fires. A violent and massive Russian offensive has followed and Moscow is shamelessly exposing its desire to dominate the South Caucasus as all the CIS countries. On August 26th, Russia recognized the independence of the separatist entities that it created on the Georgian territory.

Member countries of the EU and NATO could not without any serious damage accept a come-back of a sort of Soviet Union and Tchekist practices in their geopolitical hinterland: the current cold peace would then turn into a global geopolitical confrontation.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Download below the "Tribune" in PDF (16 pages, in French).

pdf Document