Articles and analysis

The impact of the South Ossetian conflict on the North Caucasus

By Ekaterina Zatuliveter

The North Caucasus, the most troubled area in Russia, has always been taken into account by Kremlin in decision-making process. It could not have been an exception during the recent events in the South Ossetia. The Russian politicians have thought twice about the consequences of the South Ossetian conflict on the troubled areas in the North Caucasus before sending its troops as a response to the Georgian attack on the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali. The calculation of all the negatives and positives has resulted in the Russian army going to South Ossetia to protect the local population and further on into Georgia.

Getting the message on energy interdependence

By Ksenia Gorlevaya

In the aftermath of the Russian-Georgian war,. amongst geopolitical, ethnical, moral and even religious questions one critical to major stakeholders is -� is there now any risk to EU-Russian energy contract obligations? The question has been directly posed to Russian Prime Minister Putin and comments made by many senior Russian officials. Mr. Putin gave a very clear answer to this. Russia has "no intention" of limiting oil and gas exports to the EU and the country "will abide strictly" by its contractual obligations he told the Interfax news agency (31 August). What he also said is that his country's energy reserves will flow to the Far East if European leaders seek to punish Moscow for invading Georgia.

The Medvedev Doctrine and American strategy

By George Friedman

The United States has been fighting a war in the Islamic world since 2001. Its main theaters of operation are in Afghanistan and Iraq, but its politico-military focus spreads throughout the Islamic world, from Mindanao to Morocco. The situation on Aug. 7, 2008, was as follows:

The war in Iraq was moving toward an acceptable but not optimal solution. The government in Baghdad was not pro-American, but neither was it an Iranian puppet, and that was the best that could be hoped for. The United States anticipated pulling out troops, but not in a disorderly fashion.

Articles and analysis

The impact of the South Ossetian conflict on the North Caucasus

Getting the message on energy interdependence

The Medvedev Doctrine and American strategy

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