February 15, 2011 | View Online
A More Proactive U.S. Approach to the Georgia Conflicts
By Samuel Charap, Cory Welt |
The United States should develop a strategy that builds on the
progress achieved since the August 2008 war to achieve a long-term
transformation of the Georgia conflicts. Conditions today are in fact
more favorable than any time since then for a more proactive U.S.
approach to the Georgia conflicts to have an impact—not to resolve the
conflicts but to generate short-term progress that could facilitate
resolution in the long term. To take advantage of this window of
opportunity the Obama administration should begin by urging the parties
to adopt a plan for short-term progress focused on conflict prevention
and confidence building. These goals are in the interest of all parties.
The actions outlined in the plan are also the necessary first steps
toward achieving a peaceful and just resolution of the conflicts within
Georgia’s internationally recognized borders. By reducing tensions,
bringing people together across the conflict lines, creating trust,
building trade links, and normalizing contacts among authorities, these
steps represent the foundational building blocks for achieving a
reunification of Abkhazia and South Ossetia with Georgia, as well as a
rapprochement between Russia and Georgia. They may not inevitably lead
to that outcome. But without them that outcome is impossible.
In order to facilitate progress on these steps in the near term, the
Obama administration should also modify U.S. policies to focus on
conflict resolution.
The time has come for a more proactive U.S. approach to the Georgia conflicts.
