How did the Russia-Georgia crisis start, and is it going to escalate into a second cold war?

Question

How did the Russia-Georgia crisis start, and is it going to escalate into a second cold war?

Answer 1

It started with the attack of the georgian army over the russian territory.....No there will be no second cold war...It will be the start of the Third World War ---> With Ballisticsmmissiless mounted with nuclear warheads, and after they explode you will see giant mushrooms, and seconds later you will see nothing because your eyes melted

Answer 2

I'm not sure exactly how it started, and I certainly can't predict where it will lead, but here are some contributing factors:

After the Soviet Union broke up, many countries that had been under Soviet domination rushed to apply for membership in NATO.  President Clinton promised Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia at the time, that NATO would accept the former satellite nations but not the former Soviet republics, of which Georgia was one.. President Bush disregarded that promise and encouraged Georgian membership.  (If you're not sure which countries were what, look at a twenty-year-old atlas.  Russia and the Soviet republics were all the same color, and the satellite nations, supposedly independent but under Communist domination, were different colors.)

Two Georgian provinces, Ossetia and Abkhazia,  tried to secede from Georgia, and Russia supported them in the effort.  When Georgia tried to compel those provinces to return to the fold, Russia invaded Georgia.  (This is probably an oversimplified explanation.)

EDIT  Linguistically, at least, Ossetians are not of Russian origin.  Their Indo-European language is more closely related to the Iranian branch than to any other.  But I suppose the fact that they speak an Indo-European langauges does make them more closely related to the the Russians than to the Georgians.

Answer 3

Only those involved even have a clue.  Everyone else just repeats what is in the news, and the Russian, Georgian and US news are totally contradictory and propagandized by their respective governments press secretaries.  It will not escalate into a cold war unless our next President wants it to.  Personally I think it was timed to coincide with the elections.  Europeans have a good perspective.  See Link.

Answer 4

The reason of the conflict that Georgia is necessary to US for creation of system of an air passage on which through Georgia and Azerbaijan with an exit to Caspian sea bombers B-2 for blow drawing on territory of Iran will proceed.

Answer 5

How far back to you want to go?  The Georgians have been made into surfs when the Russians invaded in the middle ages then had a short lived independence like Lithuania, Estonia & Latvia did after the loss in WW1 till the communist got Russia reorganized as the USSR and revoked their independence in 1922.  After the break up of the Soviet Union Georgia was again free, but still not free of the Russian interference.  South Ossetia fought it own secession war against Georgia that freed it of Georgian troops, but no international recognition.  That's when Russia interfered again by granting the citizens of the rebel areas Russian citizenship in a calculation to retake the territory under the guise of protecting Russians.  The day came that Georgia tried to reclaim it's territory and Russia came out like the bear it is and tore apart the Georgians.  

The second cold war is up to Russia, but it is not a democracy and NATO is for democracies.  The Russian action is ultimately backfiring on them because the countries it wishes to influence are running to the arms of NATO determined not to return to the Soviet days of Old which the former KGB agent Putin so misses.

The complexity of this issue is way too hard to over simplify with political rhetoric.    

Answer 6

The reasons of this conflict are to be rendered to the U.S.A. foreign policy, which tends, in every possible way, to struggle Russia by expanding and establishing their NATO alliances and their friendly and faithful leaders (like Saakasvili) in the vicinity of Russia, causing (for the moment) trouble to it, like the South Ossetia issue, and simultaneously accepting on their soil the establishment of U.S.A. missiles targeting Russia (As Poland already did, and Ukraine is about to do).

Georgia, especially under the present regime and government is an instrument for this purpose.

The Georgian President miscalculated  the circumstances, and urged himself to attack Ossetia, believing that the U.S.A. would promptly and immediately support him.

At the same time he had almost all the western media on his side, distorting the truth and painting a devil's image for Russia and a martyr's one for Georgia.

In conclusion, Georgia massacred South Ossetians (who are not Georgians but of Russian origin and culture), provoking thus Russia to intervene and protect them, protecting its boarders as well.

Persuant to the Sarkozy peace plan Russians have started withdrawing their troops from Georgia, leaving behind some Russian U.N. sondiers to safequard the security of S. Ossetians and to prevent Georgia from committing provocative actions.

I do not believe that this issue will end to a third world war, because all the parties involved, European Comunity included, are not so insane to cause their self distruction.

But it's time that the U.S.A. revise their foreign policy, and that's something that even the Democratic party, through Obama, has already pointed out.

Answer 7

The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see the future it is.

Answer 8

In a nutshell.

1) Georgia ATTACKED South Ossetia first killing Russian peacekeepers that were in the region, then starts to bomb Tskhinvali. Keep in mind - that is done at night. Georgian troops level the city almost to the ground, kill about 1600 civilians, and drive the rest out of town.

2) Russia steps in a day later to prevent the further genocide of Ossetians.

3) Georgian president screams bloody murder and tells everybody how Russia just invaded his country for no good reason.

4) Russia defeats Georgia, destroys their weapons and heads home...

Here in US  of A we sit down with popcorn and a coke watching fake news and saying "Baaad Russians".