Georgia and Kosovo

As Russia continues its assault on Georgia, it is becoming more clear what is happening here. Russia is seeking to do several things: weaken Georgia by seizing key strategic points in Georgia, intimidate Ukraine and other former Soviet states, and punish the West for its recent actions on several issues including Kosovo.

From an excellent article by Helene Cooper:

A senior State Department said this- “Strategically, the Russians have been sending signals that they really wanted to flex their muscles, and they’re upset about Kosovo.” The West recently recognized Kosovo’s independence from Serbia. Indeed, the decision by the United States and Europe to recognize Kosovo ay well have paved the way for Russia’s lightning-fast decision to send troops to back the separatists in South Ossetia. During one meeting on Kosovo in Brussels this year, Mr. Lavrov, the Russia foreign minister, warned American Ms. Rice and European diplomats that if they recognized Kosovo, they would be setting a precedent for South Ossetia and ther breakaway provinces.

When Kosovo declared independence, I was a little uneasy about the United States recognizing it. The rationale for breaking up larger states into smaller ones is the Wilson one of "self-determination" that is one of the contributing factors to several conflicts, including the shattered region of the Balkans and the Middle East. Democrats especially like the idea of dismembering larger states to satisfy ethnic minorities- whether it is the Civil War, WWI, WWII, or today in Kosovo or Iraq.

States need to be stable, peaceful, and diverse. "We cannot afford to validate the principle of armed insurrection."

A good article by Caroline Glick states:

Kosovo's US-backed declaration of independence is deeply troubling. By setting a precedent of legitimizing the secession of disaffected minorities, it weakens the long-term viability of multi-ethnic states. In so doing, it destabilizes the already stressed state-based international system. States as diverse as Canada, Morocco, Spain, Georgia, Russia and China currently suffer problems with politicized minorities. They are deeply concerned by the Kosovo precedent. Even the US has latent sovereignty issues with its increasingly politicized Hispanic minority along its border with Mexico. It may one day experience a domestic backlash from its support for Kosovar independence from Serbia.

In retrospect, the United States probably should not have gotten involved with Balkan nation-building under Democrat Bill Clinton. That's not to say we should have left Slobodan Milošević in power- one of my professors knew him and his wife, and from the stories I heard, he was an evil dude. But, perhaps instead we should have gone about it differently than that of a pure air war and then snapping Kosovo off and creating a dependent state (40% unemployment) full of a Muslim minority group. Oh well, the results of that conflict are now being felt on Georgia.