The Guns of August 2008: Russia's War in Georgia

Front Cover
Routledge, 2015 M01 28 - 224 pages
In the summer of 2008, a conflict that appeared to have begun in the breakaway Georgian territory of South Ossetia rapidly escalated to become the most significant crisis in European security in a decade. The implications of the Russian-Georgian war will be understood differently depending on one's narrative of what transpired and perspective on the broader context. This book is designed to present the facts about the events of August 2008 along with comprehensive coverage of the background to those events. It brings together a wealth of expertise on the South Caucasus and Russian foreign policy, with contributions by Russian, Georgian, European, and American experts on the region.
 

Contents

1 Introduction
3
Georgias Descent into Chaos
10
3 GeorgianRussian Relations in the 1990s
28
4 The Russian Leaderships Preparation for War 19992008
49
The Break with the Past
85
The West and the Georgian Crisis Before the 2008 War
104
7 The Saakashvili Administrations Reaction to Russian Policies Before the 2008 War
122
The Path to War in Georgia
143
The Escalation of the RussiaGeorgia War
162
The Information War Between Russia and Georgia
181
11 The Implications of the RussiaGeorgia War for European Security
196
Notes
225
Contributors
267
Index
273
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Cornell, Svante E.; Starr, S. Frederick

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