The Caucasus Crisis

During the second week of August 2008 a local conflict in South Ossetia suddenly flared up into a conflagration on an international scale. Russia's decision to answer the Georgian attack on South Ossetia with a massive military intervention and to "punish" Georgia's wayward leadership triggered an international crisis. The brief analyses collected here examine how the Caucasus crisis has been perceived in the most important affected states and international organizations and outline the options that ensue. Alongside the question of how the crisis itself was managed, three themes are uppermost: a peaceful European order extending beyond the borders of the European Union, stronger political integration within the EU, and defining the role of NATO in an expanded Europe.

Table of Contents

Problems and Recommendations
p.5

Hans-Henning Schröder
"A Short, Victorious War"? Russian Perspectives on the Caucasus Crisis
p.7
Russian version (PDF)

Margarete Klein
Military Implications of the Georgia War: Russian Armed Forces in Need of Reform
p.12

Uwe Halbach
The Regional Dimension: Georgia and the Southern Caucasus after the War
p.19

Russian version (PDF)

Andrea Schmitz
The Caucasus Conflict and the Future of the CIS
p.23

Russian version (PDF)

Rainer Lindner
Ukraine and Russia: A New Flashpoint in Crimea
p.26

Kai-Olaf Lang
The Old Fears of the New Europeans
p.30

Markus Kaim
"We are all Georgians" - Perceptions of the Russian-Georgian War in the United States
p.34

Frank Kupferschmidt
First Priority: Keep the Alliance Together
p.37

Annegret Bendiek / Daniela Schwarzer
The EU's Southern Caucasus Policy under the French Council Presidency: Between Consultation, Cooperation and Confrontation
p.41

Appendix

Timeline of the Russian-Georgian Conflict (3 April to 3 September 2008), p.49

Abbreviations and Acronyms
p.57

The Authors
p.58

Other SWP Publications on Russia, Georgia and the Caucasus
p.59