Thursday, May 8, 2008

General Sherman, Someone Called Putin On The Telegraph For You

Tensions are escalating between Georgia and Russia over Abkhazia. What is Abkhazia you ask?

Well, as you can read here, the recorded history of Abkhazia goes back to the 5th or 6th century BC with the arrival of Greeks on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Abkhazia and Georgia have long and proud histories of nationalism and independence.

The current issues are hang-over from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Abkhazia had been part of the Georgia SSR, but when the USSR collapsed, Abkhazis fought a series of armed conflicts for autonomy with Georgia. The Abkhazis sided with Russians in wishing to remain allied with Russia, while Georgia has been increasingly oriented towards the West. With Georgia seeking to join NATO tensions are on the rise agian, with Russia strongly opposed to a loss of influence over it's neighbor.

Anyway, hopefully this is just a Mexican standoff, and it will be resolved without stuff really hitting the fan, but it's scary, make no mistake.

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