In the absence of recognition, the institutions built by the South Ossetian regime remained vulnerable to Georgia’s re-assertion of sovereignty between 2004 and 2006.
Not supporting the people of South Ossetia in their determination to make their voices heard and their votes count undermines the credibility of EU efforts to promote and support democracy and sends a message that it may yet be possible to get away with stealing elections.
Georgia has been guilty of aggressive state-integrationism, and, by its unquestioning support for Georgia’s ‘territorial integrity’, the international community fully shares the guilt for the bloodshed in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia has squandered any moral claim to control the respective territories.
The recent events in the South Caucasus once again highlight the pervasive and destructive forces inherent in ethnic nationalism. These should not be misunderstood as simply local phenomena for they have wider ramifications and are shaped by factors well beyond their locale.
The ongoing conflict in the South Caucasus is far more than just another example of ethnic strife in the region, Russian aggression or the last stages of the unraveling of the Soviet Union. Wrapped up in this conflict are many of the major issues which have defined international politics in that part of the world for a decade and which will likely continue to define those politics for at least another decade.
Despite repeated warnings from international NGOs and regional experts, most of the international community chose to ignore signs of the brooding conflict. It is only now, when both sides are counting the dead, that attention has turned to this war torn part of the world. However, the origins of the fighting are deeply embedded in the security situation in the post Soviet space.
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