Publications & Tools

Since 1989, tensions have flared repeatedly and at times violently between the Republic of Georgia and the territory of South Ossetia.  The most recent episode of conflict came to a head in August 2008, when a Georgian military offensive into South Ossetia prompted an immediate response by Russia, resulting in a week of severe clashes until a ceasefire agreement was brokered by international actors.  The subsequent peace, however, remains fragile, with many issues still contentious and unresolved.  The Georgian government and the South Ossetian authorities meet infrequently, and rarely address broader issues relating to the conflict.  In this context, key members of Georgian and South Ossetian civil society, with backing from select officials on both sides, have embraced opportunities for Track II diplomacy.

Why did neither protestors nor the government use force during Georgia's Rose Revolution, despite orders to do so? Author Giorgi Kandelaki provides a participant's perspective on this question and more.

In the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, secessionist forces carved four de facto states from parts of Moldova, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Ten years on, those states are mired in uncertainty. Beset by internal problems, fearful of a return to the violence that spawned them, and isolated and unrecognized internationally, they survive behind cease–fire lines that have temporarily frozen but not resolved their conflicts with the metropolitan powers.