Russia and the US embroil the region in inter-imperialist war

On August 26, Russian President Medvedev announced that his country has decided to recognise the independence of two break away regions of Georgia – South Ossetia and Abkazia. The US, EU and NATO have angrily denounced this move. This move of Russia, which it justified on the grounds that the Georgian regime was carrying out genocide in these two regions, is but one more step in the escalating conflict between Russian Federation and the US for control of the former European republics of the Soviet Union.

Earlier, on the 7th of August, Georgian military forces launched a surprise attack to regain control of South Ossetia, which has been enjoying de facto independence since the end of a civil war in 1992. The very next day, Russian troops rushed into the region, engaging Georgian forces in battle for control of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. Soon after, Russian forces wrested control of Tskhinvali and attacked military targets in Gori, close to South Ossetia, as well as near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Fighting also erupted in Abkhazia, another region seeking to break away from Georgia. Finally on August 15, Georgia’s President signed a ceasefire agreement with Russia, brokered by the European Union, after the active intervention of the US Secretary of State, Rice.

The US and NATO launched a political military offensive immediately after the ceasefire. NATO sent a high power delegation to Georgia, which is considered a partner of NATO, to beef up its armed forces. Meanwhile, Rice rushed to Poland, a NATO member, and signed an extremely provocative deal to locate part of its highly contentious “missile defence system” on Polish soil, along with short range Patriot missiles. Earlier, in July 2008, the US signed an agreement with the Czech Republic to base tracking radars there as part of the defence system. The Russian government has angrily retorted that setting up missile defence systems in Poland amounts to an act of war against Russia.

A grave situation is developing in the countries that were either part of the former Soviet Union or emerged from Soviet domination. The US and NATO have left no stone unturned, to convert this entire region into their front post, thereby encircling the Russian Federation. Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, as well as Slovenia have been incorporated into NATO. Many others like Georgia, Ukraine, and Albania are ‘NATO allies’. ‘NATO allies’ is a euphemism for those countries, for whose entry into NATO the ground is being prepared.

The Russian bourgeoisie regards the countries that have emerged from the former Soviet Union as part of its sphere of influence. With the growing economic strength of Russia, powered by its oil and gas reserves, it is determined to oppose the US strategy in the region. Meanwhile, the capitalist governments in these countries, are quite willing to play the US game – both because of the historical fear of Russian ambitions, as well as the monetary and other incentives offered by the US and NATO. Inter imperialist proxy hot and cold wars are engulfing the entire region, and Georgia is but the latest example of such wars.

Georgia, once part of the erstwhile USSR, lies in a region of immense geo – political importance. The US has formed close ties with the Georgian regime of Mikheil Saakashvili, who came to power in 2003, even offering the regime considerable military and other aid. US Special Forces trained Georgian troops in 2002 to combat Chechen fighters, as part of the US “war on terror”. Georgian forces continued to receive training from the US and sent troops to Iraq, following the US – led invasion in 2003. The US imperialists gave US $151 million to the Georgian government in “security aid” between 2004 and 2006, besides giving it $295 million in funds for “good government”. The presence of key natural resources is the reason for the scale of US generosity. The Baku-bilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline runs through Georgia, allowing the US access to oil and gas supplies not pumped through Russia to the north or Iran to the south. Thus, the US seeks to use Georgia as an ‘energy corridor’ for transporting Caspian hydrocarbons to the West and has therefore beefed up the Georgian military and regime to protect its own interests.

The Russian imperialists regard this region as their own backyard, meant to serve their own strategic and energy needs. They have used the pretext that since the US recognised the independence of Kosova from Serbia a few months back, (Serbia is regarded as within the Russian sphere of influence), the Russian Federation is well within its rights to recognise the break-away regions of Georgia.

The actions of both Russia and US need to be condemned by all freedom and peace loving peoples of the world. Both these powers are cynically violating the sovereignty of the peoples and using their military and economic might to set up countries, formally independent, but in fact under the complete tutelage of the imperialists. Their course of action is preparing the grounds for a major inter-imperialist war in this region.