I have done a lot of research on this interesting ...

2008-11-01T21:27:03.117Z

I have done a lot of research on this interesting issue as it relates to Abkhazia (see a brief write-up of it here, a publication is forthcoming soon), and peak period when Russian passports were being handed out there was actually in 2002.

This may seem trivial, except that it undermines one of the authors' points, namely that Russia became substantially more hostile toward Georgia once Saakashvili replaced Shevardnadze.

Lots of good information in this article.

I suspect that the aftermath of Kosovo was one trigger that started the Russia passport policy in Abkhazia (and South Ossetia).

In my opinion the policy is flawed however, as it simply becomes a sorry excuse for Russia on behalf of non-Russian, non-citizen passport holders within another nations territory.

Despite when the policy started, the end result will be a territory grab. Given opinion polls inside these territories and Russia, there is little doubt that these provinces are not de-facto independent as Lavrov would like to claim, but are de-facto Russian territory, eventually to be absorbed into the Russian Federations.

It was emailed to me by a friend in Tbilisi who wo...

2008-08-19T14:46:50.516+01:00

It was emailed to me by a friend in Tbilisi who works for an organization that does some work in the conflict areas. It reflected the positions several months ago and not whatever exists today.

What is the source of your South Ossetia Areas of ...

2008-08-18T15:54:08.046+01:00

What is the source of your South Ossetia Areas of Control map? It is somewhat different from these two:

Wikipedia

Kommersant

Comments on Scraps of Moscow: Unvacation

I have done a lot of research on this interesting ...

It was emailed to me by a friend in Tbilisi who wo...

What is the source of your South Ossetia Areas of ...