Nick Meo: Georgia ... Roots of the South Ossetia conflict
[Nick Meo has written articles published in The Daily Telegraph (Foreign Correspondent), The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sunday Telegraph.]
For much of recorded history, the people of Georgia co-existed peacefully with their Ossetian neighbours, partly due to being under the thumb of Moscow since Tsarist troops conquered their lands in 1801.
But the fall of the Soviet Union brought ambitious local politicians to power and unleashed bitter rivalries over territory, which exploded into an ugly conflict in 1991.
Up to 100,000 South Ossetians had to flee from a short, bloody war in which hundreds were killed.
Fighting was ended by a peace deal which essentially froze the conflict without solving the underlying tensions, mainly because of fears of provoking the all-out wrath of Moscow. Russian peacekeepers moved into South Ossetia, under the terms of the deal, and Georgia was forced to accept de facto autonomy for parts of that territory. It left neither side particularly happy, and rabble-rousing politicians have thrived on the ensuing bitterness ever since – as too have regional powerbrokers, for whom the area has strategic importance as a gateway between Asia and Europe.
Since the opening of a major oil pipeline through Georgian territory in 2005, the struggle for influence between East and West has given rise to a new "Great Game". America's wish for a Georgian military base, Georgia's ambition to join Nato and Russia's fear of encirclement by former satellite republics that are now hostile, all complicate the region's petty political problems further.
Peace should not be impossible. Ossetians and Georgians speak different languages, but both are Christian and their cultures are similar. However, in the past 20 years, mutual bitterness has grown and Ossetians have identified more and more with Russia, in part because so many fled there in 1991. Most now see Moscow as a protector...
Read entire article at Telegraph
For much of recorded history, the people of Georgia co-existed peacefully with their Ossetian neighbours, partly due to being under the thumb of Moscow since Tsarist troops conquered their lands in 1801.
But the fall of the Soviet Union brought ambitious local politicians to power and unleashed bitter rivalries over territory, which exploded into an ugly conflict in 1991.
Up to 100,000 South Ossetians had to flee from a short, bloody war in which hundreds were killed.
Fighting was ended by a peace deal which essentially froze the conflict without solving the underlying tensions, mainly because of fears of provoking the all-out wrath of Moscow. Russian peacekeepers moved into South Ossetia, under the terms of the deal, and Georgia was forced to accept de facto autonomy for parts of that territory. It left neither side particularly happy, and rabble-rousing politicians have thrived on the ensuing bitterness ever since – as too have regional powerbrokers, for whom the area has strategic importance as a gateway between Asia and Europe.
Since the opening of a major oil pipeline through Georgian territory in 2005, the struggle for influence between East and West has given rise to a new "Great Game". America's wish for a Georgian military base, Georgia's ambition to join Nato and Russia's fear of encirclement by former satellite republics that are now hostile, all complicate the region's petty political problems further.
Peace should not be impossible. Ossetians and Georgians speak different languages, but both are Christian and their cultures are similar. However, in the past 20 years, mutual bitterness has grown and Ossetians have identified more and more with Russia, in part because so many fled there in 1991. Most now see Moscow as a protector...