(Compiler's note: Clearly the principles of the U.S. Constitution were NOT meant only to be studied but to be applied. In light of this article and many other events in world history, that, then, continues to be the challenge. Also to be rediscovered is the writing of George Washington who said that ' temporary alliances' may be justified for 'extraordinary emergencies,' but otherwise, 'harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest.' Fitzpatrick, The Writings of George Washington, 35:231. One can only come to understand that our founding fathers in their policy for the overall defense of our nation was NOT one of 'isolationism' but one of 'separatism' -- without entangling ourselves in the quarrels of other nations. They intended that we become strong and independent, but NOT the policemen of the world.)

By George Friedman

The Russo-Georgian war was rooted in broad geopolitical processes. In large part it was simply the result of the cyclical reassertion of Russian power. The Russian empire — czarist and Soviet — expanded to its borders in the 17th and 19th centuries. It collapsed in 1992. The Western powers wanted to make the disintegration permanent. It was inevitable that Russia would, in due course, want to reassert its claims. That it happened in Georgia was simply the result of circumstance.

There is, however, another context within which to view this, the context of Russian perceptions of U.S. and European intentions and of U.S. and European perceptions of Russian capabilities. This context shaped the policies that led to the Russo-Georgian war. And those attitudes can only be understood if we trace the question of Kosovo, because the Russo-Georgian war was forged over the last decade over the Kosovo question.

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