Tuesday
Aug192008
Russia Georgia Conflict - Background and Context
Listen to Audio File
* The history of Georgia is full of conflict, and for thousands of years its inhabitants have constantly struggled to maintain their territorial independence. Before the might of Russia was first felt in the 18th century, Georgia had been a part of many great empires (such as those of Rome, Byzantium, Ottoman Turkey, and Safavid Persia), though it has also gone through periods of hard-fought-for independence.
* In 1801 the Russian Tsar took advantage of internal conflict in Georgia and in September Alexander I confirmed the incorporation of Russia's southern neighbour into the Empire.
* By the end of the century a national liberation movement had developed in opposition to Russian rule. The Marxist Social Democratic Movement was gaining much support and the Menshevik wing of the party (more moderate than its revolutionary brother, Bolshevism) came to dominate politics in Georgia, as in the rest of Russia.
* Notably, Joseph Stalin, a native of Georgia, came to lead the revolutionary Bolshevik party in his home country.
* Georgian nationalism was widespread, and when the Revolution of 1917 plunged Russia into disarray, this territory declared its independence as the Democratic Republic of Georgia. This freedom was short-lived, however, and early in 1921 the Bolsheviks' Red Army annexed Georgia to Russia once more.
* Georgia was ruled by the Soviet Union until 1991. Soviet Rule was bloody, and around 50,000 people were killed between 1921 and 1924, while Stalin purged another 150,000. Georgia's relations with the Soviet Union were never very good: they suffered under Krushchev's policy of de-Stalinisation, which was strongly critical of the always-nationalistic Georgian people (since Stalin himself was Georgian).
* Communist Georgia endured further problems in the late 1980s: the First Secretary, Patiashvili, was ill-equipped to deal with the challenges brought by Perestroika, and violence increased between the Soviet authorities, Georgian nationalists and other nationalist minority groups (notably those from Abkhazia and South Ossetia). A landmark event was the violent break-up of a peaceful demonstration at the government building in Tbilisi, the capital, on April 9th, 1989- twenty Georgians were killed, and hundreds more were wounded or poisoned. The event contributed to the radicalisation of Georgian politics and encouraged many to conclude that an end to Soviet rule was desirable.
* Independence finally came on April 9th 1991, after the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia held a referendum on March 31st- this was approved by 98.9% of the vote. In the following years Georgia experienced high levels of political unrest and violence; for example the first president, Gamsakhurdia, was ousted in a violent coup d'etat only a few months after taking office. Further problems ensued in 1992 as ethnic and separatist clashes occurred in Abkhazia and South Ossetia as the regions attempted to break with Georgia; hundreds of thousands of refugees fled to Russian-controlled territories in the north. Gamsakhurdia later returned and led a rebellion against the government, though this was successfully crushed.
* Relations with Russia deteriorated from the mid-1990s onwards due, in part, to the pro-Western stance of Georgia's leaders which Russia has been strongly opposed to. The United States sent considerable amounts of aid to Georgia, for example setting up the Georgia Train and Equip Programme to assist the nation's military, and Georgia signed a strategic partnership with NATO, expressing desire to join both NATO and the EU. A powerful coalition of pro-Western reformists led by Mikheil Saakashvili, among others, united in November 2003 to oppose Shevardnadze's corrupt government in the parliamentary elections- massive demonstrations were organised in Tbilisi when it became apparent that the elections were rigged. After two weeks of tension Shevardnadze resigned, and Saakashvili won the presidential election of January 2004 with a huge majority of 96% of votes cast. Saakashvili has been in power in Georgia ever since, and has faced many problems- peace in the unrecognised autonomous republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has always been fragile and until now has relied on assistance from Russia and the United Nations.
* Until Russia's invasion of Georgia this August, relations between the two nations have been difficult given Russia's continuous support of the separatist governments of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as the presence of two Russian garrisons in these regions. The Georgia-Russia Espionage Controversy of 2006 also did much to harm relations between the two states, when in September four Russian officers were arrested in Georgia on charges of espionage. A diplomatic war ensued which world organisations, such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, attempted to diffuse.
* The rising tensions between Russia and Georgia in 2008 have been expressed chiefly through continuous denunciations and accusations by both sides, while violence has increased in separatist, pro-Russian Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The immediate build-up to the August 2008 military conflict began when Russia dropped the economic sanctions imposed on Abkhazia by the Commonwealth of Independent States in March of the same year- Karl Bildt, the Swedish Foreign Minister, stated that this action looked like a 'de facto annexation', and his opinion was certainly shared in Georgia. The crisis deepened when a Georgian unmanned, unarmed, aerial vehicle was shot down over Abkhazia on April 20th- Georgia accused Russia of being responsible, on the basis of video footage of a Russian MiG-29 shooting down the drone. Early in May Russia and Abkhazia responded by claiming that three more Georgian reconnaissance drones had been shot down, and they declared that Georgia was planning a military offensive on the region, though these allegations were dismissed by Georgian officials as provocative and propagandistic.
* On May 31st Russia sent apparently-unarmed railway troops into Abkhazia, allegedly to repair a railway line- this was condemned as an act of aggression and an infringement of Georgia's sovereignty by NATO's Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and the troops were pulled out on July 30th. In July violence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia continued to escalate, and in Moscow there was outcry over Condoleezza Rice's endorsement of Georgia's proposed membership of NATO. On July 15th, Abkhazia and South Ossetia were said to be planning to join the Union of Russia and Belarus but that they would need to be recognized as independent before they could join the Union as members. Georgia said on July 16 that if Russia did not accept a plan for resolving the conflict Georgia would be forced to "unilaterally bring an influence to bear on the deployment of armed forces in Abkhazia."
* Tensions reached breaking point and on August 1st South Ossetian and Georgian forces clashed- seven days later Russia sent troops across the border, transforming a separatist conflict into a full-scale war between Russia and Georgia.
Listen
* The history of Georgia is full of conflict, and for thousands of years its inhabitants have constantly struggled to maintain their territorial independence. Before the might of Russia was first felt in the 18th century, Georgia had been a part of many great empires (such as those of Rome, Byzantium, Ottoman Turkey, and Safavid Persia), though it has also gone through periods of hard-fought-for independence.
* In 1801 the Russian Tsar took advantage of internal conflict in Georgia and in September Alexander I confirmed the incorporation of Russia's southern neighbour into the Empire.
* By the end of the century a national liberation movement had developed in opposition to Russian rule. The Marxist Social Democratic Movement was gaining much support and the Menshevik wing of the party (more moderate than its revolutionary brother, Bolshevism) came to dominate politics in Georgia, as in the rest of Russia.
* Notably, Joseph Stalin, a native of Georgia, came to lead the revolutionary Bolshevik party in his home country.
* Georgian nationalism was widespread, and when the Revolution of 1917 plunged Russia into disarray, this territory declared its independence as the Democratic Republic of Georgia. This freedom was short-lived, however, and early in 1921 the Bolsheviks' Red Army annexed Georgia to Russia once more.
* Georgia was ruled by the Soviet Union until 1991. Soviet Rule was bloody, and around 50,000 people were killed between 1921 and 1924, while Stalin purged another 150,000. Georgia's relations with the Soviet Union were never very good: they suffered under Krushchev's policy of de-Stalinisation, which was strongly critical of the always-nationalistic Georgian people (since Stalin himself was Georgian).
* Communist Georgia endured further problems in the late 1980s: the First Secretary, Patiashvili, was ill-equipped to deal with the challenges brought by Perestroika, and violence increased between the Soviet authorities, Georgian nationalists and other nationalist minority groups (notably those from Abkhazia and South Ossetia). A landmark event was the violent break-up of a peaceful demonstration at the government building in Tbilisi, the capital, on April 9th, 1989- twenty Georgians were killed, and hundreds more were wounded or poisoned. The event contributed to the radicalisation of Georgian politics and encouraged many to conclude that an end to Soviet rule was desirable.
* Independence finally came on April 9th 1991, after the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia held a referendum on March 31st- this was approved by 98.9% of the vote. In the following years Georgia experienced high levels of political unrest and violence; for example the first president, Gamsakhurdia, was ousted in a violent coup d'etat only a few months after taking office. Further problems ensued in 1992 as ethnic and separatist clashes occurred in Abkhazia and South Ossetia as the regions attempted to break with Georgia; hundreds of thousands of refugees fled to Russian-controlled territories in the north. Gamsakhurdia later returned and led a rebellion against the government, though this was successfully crushed.
* Relations with Russia deteriorated from the mid-1990s onwards due, in part, to the pro-Western stance of Georgia's leaders which Russia has been strongly opposed to. The United States sent considerable amounts of aid to Georgia, for example setting up the Georgia Train and Equip Programme to assist the nation's military, and Georgia signed a strategic partnership with NATO, expressing desire to join both NATO and the EU. A powerful coalition of pro-Western reformists led by Mikheil Saakashvili, among others, united in November 2003 to oppose Shevardnadze's corrupt government in the parliamentary elections- massive demonstrations were organised in Tbilisi when it became apparent that the elections were rigged. After two weeks of tension Shevardnadze resigned, and Saakashvili won the presidential election of January 2004 with a huge majority of 96% of votes cast. Saakashvili has been in power in Georgia ever since, and has faced many problems- peace in the unrecognised autonomous republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has always been fragile and until now has relied on assistance from Russia and the United Nations.
* Until Russia's invasion of Georgia this August, relations between the two nations have been difficult given Russia's continuous support of the separatist governments of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as the presence of two Russian garrisons in these regions. The Georgia-Russia Espionage Controversy of 2006 also did much to harm relations between the two states, when in September four Russian officers were arrested in Georgia on charges of espionage. A diplomatic war ensued which world organisations, such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, attempted to diffuse.
* The rising tensions between Russia and Georgia in 2008 have been expressed chiefly through continuous denunciations and accusations by both sides, while violence has increased in separatist, pro-Russian Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The immediate build-up to the August 2008 military conflict began when Russia dropped the economic sanctions imposed on Abkhazia by the Commonwealth of Independent States in March of the same year- Karl Bildt, the Swedish Foreign Minister, stated that this action looked like a 'de facto annexation', and his opinion was certainly shared in Georgia. The crisis deepened when a Georgian unmanned, unarmed, aerial vehicle was shot down over Abkhazia on April 20th- Georgia accused Russia of being responsible, on the basis of video footage of a Russian MiG-29 shooting down the drone. Early in May Russia and Abkhazia responded by claiming that three more Georgian reconnaissance drones had been shot down, and they declared that Georgia was planning a military offensive on the region, though these allegations were dismissed by Georgian officials as provocative and propagandistic.
* On May 31st Russia sent apparently-unarmed railway troops into Abkhazia, allegedly to repair a railway line- this was condemned as an act of aggression and an infringement of Georgia's sovereignty by NATO's Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and the troops were pulled out on July 30th. In July violence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia continued to escalate, and in Moscow there was outcry over Condoleezza Rice's endorsement of Georgia's proposed membership of NATO. On July 15th, Abkhazia and South Ossetia were said to be planning to join the Union of Russia and Belarus but that they would need to be recognized as independent before they could join the Union as members. Georgia said on July 16 that if Russia did not accept a plan for resolving the conflict Georgia would be forced to "unilaterally bring an influence to bear on the deployment of armed forces in Abkhazia."
* Tensions reached breaking point and on August 1st South Ossetian and Georgian forces clashed- seven days later Russia sent troops across the border, transforming a separatist conflict into a full-scale war between Russia and Georgia.
Listen
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Georgia, Russia, UN, United Nations, benjamin netanyahu, un-featured in Audio, News/Commentary, United Nations
Georgia, Russia, UN, United Nations, benjamin netanyahu, un-featured in Audio, News/Commentary, United Nations
Iranian President Ahmadinejad's Comments to the Press at General Assembly
During the conversation, which was at times confrontational, Ahmadinejad retained a sense of relaxed composure. Though he skirted issues such as detention of dissidents, media transparency, and nuclear threats to Israel, Ahmadinejad was willing to engage on multiple, controversial topics.
Ahmadinejad spoke of his country's willingness to allow IAEA inspectors in to Iran, and denied the possibility that Iran would preemptively attack Israel, stating that "[the world] is entering a post-nuclear" era. The president also discussed his willingness to cooperate with the Iraqi government, cautioned the West about it's excursion in Afghanistan, and warned of the hazards of continued violence in the Middle East.
Listen to Audio File (5:06), via translation
Listen to Entire Press Conference (59:10), via translation
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