Nexon asks for another assessment of the performance of the Russian and Georgian armed forces. Again, this is very preliminary; the lessons of this war will take a long time to learn and internalize. The Georgians did have some technical advantages, such as nightfighting gear on their tanks and attack aircraft. While this article indicates […]
Tag: georgia
Russia appears to be displeased about the missile defense deal with Poland: Russia reacted angrily, saying that the move would worsen relations with the United States that have already been strained s
I have an article up at TAP on NATO and the Russia-Georgia war.
This can happen when you adopt a foreign policy of intimidation (neocons take note…): Poland and the United States reached an agreement Thursday to base American missile interceptors in Poland, the prime minister said, going ahead with a plan that has angered Russia and threatened to escalate tensions with the region’s communist-era master. Speaking in […]
It’s always sad when an interstate war winds down. Except, of course, for all of the people living in the place where the war happens. It’s good for them. Read Dan on the ceasefire. While
It’s very hard at this point to come to any conclusions about the capabilities of either Russian or Georgian forces. I do think we can decisively say that Ralph Peters (Russians are drunken idio
This NYT article sheds some light on the question of US awareness of Georgian military preparations. At the State Department in Washington, Mr. Fried, the top envoy for the region, received a phone call on Thursday from Georgia’s foreign minister, Eka Tkeshelashvili, who said the country was under attack. The foreign minister said Georgia had […]
Russia and Georgia have agreed to a ceasefire, although it appears that there is still some shooting going on near Gori. I think that Kevin Drum’s assessment of what happened here is correct; Ru
Moscow McDonalds. Tblisi McDonalds. Sorry, Tom. And on IR Theories that should be taken more seriously, Chris Bertram notes both Russia and Georgia currently rank at 7, the highest democratic score, i
Kevin Drum links to an article by Jonathan Landay indicating that the United States did its best to restrain Georgia, and that while it anticipated a strong Russia reaction within South Ossetia, it didn’t foresee the larger Russian counter-offensive. This runs strongly counter to Adrian Bloomfield’s Telegraph account, which suggests that the US gave tacit […]
The Times has a fairly grim account of the Georgian retreat from Gori: The Georgian Army was in complete disarray last night after troops and tanks fled the town of Gori in panic and abandoned it to t
For what it’s worth. What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed