Three years ago, in the aftermath of the Russian-Georgian war, Russia consolidated its control over South Ossetia and Abkhazia and occupied parts of Georgia beyond these areas. The Russian-planned military campaign lasted 5 days until the parties reached a preliminary ceasefire agreement on August 12. In a few months, Russia consolidated control over these republics by recognizing their independence. Our panelists will analyze the geopolitical and operational successes and failures of the 2008 conflict as well as review the lessons learned about the Russian army’s performance. The war demonstrated the weaknesses of NATO and the EU security system as they provided no efficient response to Russia’s violent changes of the borders and occupation of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) member state. At the end of the day, fissures between different European countries allowed Russia to achieve almost all of its goals. Join us as our panelists examine the consequences of the war for the region as well as the situation in Georgia today.
More About the Speakers
His Excellency Temuri Yakobashvili
Ambassador of Georgia to the United States
Colonel Robert E. Hamilton, USA
Department of National Security and Strategy, U.S. Army War College
Hosted By
Ariel Cohen, Ph.D.
Senior Research Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Policy, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies
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