South Ossetia

The satirist Ambrose Bierce memorably described war as God’s way of teaching geography. And so when Russian tanks rolled first into the disputed territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia over the weekend and then into Georgia proper, it marked the first time many Americans had heard anything at all about the people, places and politics of this particular corner of the Caucasus.

For now, the conflict between Russia and Georgia, a country with five million fewer residents than the U.S. state of the same name, isn’t likely to play a major, direct role in the race between Barack Obama and John McCain. Few Americans live in the area (and those who do are being evacuated as this is being written), no American troops are on the ground, and there are no significant ethnic or emotional bonds between most U.  read more »