Center for Security Studies

No. 39: Caucasus Crisis: Implications and Options for the West

No. 39: Caucasus Crisis: Implications and Options for the West

Author(s): Jeronim Perovic
Editor(s): Daniel Möckli
Series: CSS Analyses in Security Policy
Issue: 39
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich
Publication Year: 2008

Following Russia's military intervention in Georgia and its recognition, in contravention of international law, of South Ossetian and Abkhazian independence, the Caucasus has returned to the focus of security policy attention. Georgia's attempt to retake South Ossetia by military force and the demonstration of Russian power have called into question some important parameters of the European security framework. The unstable situation in the Caucasus also threatens to undermine European efforts to reduce its energy-policy dependency on Russia. The West's options are limited, since an isolation of Moscow would be counter-productive.

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