is little possibility that these conflicts can be completely resolved.

First of all, the conflicts between Georgia and the two breakaway regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, are hard to untie. As a member of the United Nations, Georgia has a legal right to quell civil unrest and protect the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both dominated by ethnic minorities, have a long and complicated history of conflict with the central government. Both regions declared independence from Georgia in the early 1990s, although they never received diplomatic recognition. Over time, separatist rhetoric morphed into military objection. In the past 20 years, regional governments and leaders have changed many times, but never the goal of independence.

Their confidence in separating from Georgia has grown with time. The two regional governments have scarcely any connection with the Georgian Government, but instead keep close relationships with Russia. As most residents in the two regions hold Russian passports, Russia believes it has a responsibility to protect them. When conflict between Georgia and the two regions arose in recent months, although Russia did not officially recognize their independence, it stood with the two regions in the name of peacekeeping and protecting Russian citizens.

When he met with leaders from South Ossetia and Abkhazia on August 14 to discuss a ceasefire, Medvedev said that Russia would respect any choice they made in accordance with the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act. It is foreseeable that, with Russia's strong support, the two regions will go further down the path to independence. Georgia's attempts at peaceful negotiation will get no response from the two regions with Russian troops blocking Georgia from military reoccupation.

Russia and Georgia also have divergent strategic interests. Georgia is a small country in the Caucasus region that has limited diplomatic space, but it is caught between superpowers. Saakashvili entered office with U.S. support in 2004, after the bloodless Rose Revolution swept the previous government from power. In exchange, he chose diplomatic policies that favored Washington over Moscow. These policies placed Georgia's security and prosperity entirely in Western hands, neglecting the country's gigantic neighbor. Georgia is also seeking membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which would guarantee Western military protection from foreign incursion. Georgian membership in NATO threatens Russia's strategic and security interests, however, by introducing U.S. and NATO influence into the Caucasus region, and could lead to military conflict between Russia and U.S.-led NATO. In the recent South Ossetia war, it seemed that Georgia intended to involve the United States, NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) so as to restrict Russian peacekeeping troops or drive them out of the country and test Russia's reaction. Russia's military retaliation was actually a warning against Saakashvili's pro-West policies.

Shaking ties

Although the conflict mainly concerned Georgia and Russia, it has had implications for relations among Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine. Moreover, as the situation has drawn comparisons to Kosovo-earlier this year, Vladimir Putin criticized the United States and Europe for supporting independence for Kosovo but not South Ossetia-seemingly disparate regional conflicts are becoming increasingly interconnected.

The first result of the conflict in South Ossetia is a strained relationship between the United States and Russia. The past month has seen extremely active interaction between Washington and Tbilisi. In July, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Georgia and the two countries conducted a