Word: saakashvili
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...managing Russia's resurgence, the authors argue, is expanding communication with Moscow. And Europe will be compelled to play a leading role here, given that the Bush Administration's military aid to, and diplomatic support for, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has rendered it unable to act as an honest broker in the current crisis. Indeed, some European diplomats have expressed irritation over the intense support lent by Washington to Saakashvili in the months preceding the crisis, which many believe may have emboldened the Georgian into making a calamitous mistake by invading South Ossetia. "The U.S. encouraged him without really understanding...
...diplomatic architecture of the standoff was made clear in the process of brokering a cease-fire. It was left to France and Germany to negotiate cease-fire terms with the Russians; Rice conferred with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and then flew to Tbilisi to make clear to Saakashvili that he had no alternative but to sign a deal he clearly found unpalatable, because the U.S. was unable to bring any leverage to bear on the Russians. Newer E.U. and NATO members such as Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic states, who have long lived under the shadow...
...other lessons: don't tease the bear, because it may just be smarter than you. It appears the Georgians fell into the yawning trap set for them by the Russians. For years both sides had fired on the other, and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili decided that this summer was the time to root out the separatists - many with freshly issued Russian passports - in South Ossetia. When his forces moved into the province on Aug. 7, the Russian bear pounced. By all accounts, the Georgians moved first militarily. By most accounts, the Russians were simply awaiting that provocation, biding their time...
...Europeans draw the opposite conclusion. They see last week's events in Georgia as vindicating their caution over granting Georgia NATO membership. Indeed, many in Europe see the Bush Administration's military support for Georgia and its trumpeting of Tbilisi's cause in NATO as having emboldened President Mikheil Saakashvili to launch his reckless attack on South Ossetia...
...Putin has used the opportunity presented by Saakashvili to show Russia's neighbors that Washington's tough talk could not be matched by any meaningful response to the Kremlin's military campaign. Bush may now be trying to play catch-up with his tough talk, but reversing the impact of the Russian offensive will require a lot more than stitching up a bloodied Georgia and casting Russia out of the G-8 or boycotting the 2014 Winter Olympics. (Thursday's announcement of a deal between the U.S. and Poland to station missile interceptors on Russia's doorstep over increasingly bellicose...