Reading like a front-line intercept from a diplomat's dispatch bag the influential UK's Economist passes the skinny: [excerpt] "Russia’s broader aim may be to try to roll back the advance of pro-Western forces in its “near abroad” by highlighting the W
est’s inability to help Georgia. The hotting up of Georgia’s conflicts coincided with Kosovo’s declaration of independence, recognised by much of the West, and American pressure for the expansion of NATO to Georgia and Ukraine. That move has been stymied, mainly by Germany; Georgia was promised eventual NATO membership but no firm plan. Though Georgia has become a vital corridor for oil and gas exports to Europe, this has not brought the support that its leaders had expected. A lame-duck American administration has been able to do little, though Georgians hope a presidential-election victory by John McCain, an ardent supporter, may change their fortunes. ..." Read the complete text here.
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