AUGUST WAR MADE GEORGIA EPICENTER OF INSTABILITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.12.2008 15:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgia’s irresponsible moves caused Russia’s
disproportionate reaction. The fact is that two authoritative regimes
launched a war that they have been preparing for years, a Georgian
expert said.

"As to the democracy index, according to The Economist, both Georgia
and Russia were included in the list of so-called hybrid regimes,
rating 104 and 107 respectively along with Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi
and Pakistan," Ivlian Khaindrava, director of South Caucasus programs
at the Tbilisi-based center of development and cooperation said in
an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"It was quite obvious that a war will break out. The OSCE observers in
South Ossetia did warn about possible escalation but nothing was done
to prevent it. This story resembles the OSCE behavior during elections
in the South Caucasus. At first, the observers announce that the
elections were held in line with international standards. However,
some 2 or 3 months later they publish a report to say that the
elections were beyond any standards," he said.

The diplomatic language of ‘mild’ European force is being exhausted,
according to Khaindrava.

"The August war debunked the myth of ‘democracy lighthouse’,
transforming it into Bush’s street in Tbilisi, which has become the
epicenter of instability mostly conditioned by unpredictability of
the Georgian authorities and Russian military presence August 2008
proved that security in the South Caucasus is not an abstract notion
for EU. Market deals are pregnant with bloodshed and losses and can’t
substitute sober decisions," he said.