"A lot of this has caught the Americans by surprise," says Sabine Freizer, director of the Europe Program at the International Crisis Group in Brussels. "Politicians have been on the project of supporting democracy in the former Soviet Union without thinking of the impact in Russia. Now we're seeing a reaction." Full Story »
Posted by Kaizar Campwala
A very comprehensive overview that covers both the geopolitical and economic aspects of the crisis. Amazing that Russia has so quickly achieved a major shift, which is already affecting the expansion of NATO, the construction of new oil and gas pipelines through Georgia, and global perceptions of Russian strength in general. Clearly Saakashvili overplayed his hand, and by extension so did the United States; realizing this, Russia acted quickly to press its advantage. The opening salvo of a fine chess game that will likely continue for decades. If one were called on to recommend a single article, it would be hard to beat this one.
