Fights the world forgot
Never heard of the country of Abkhazia? Well, Georgia would like to keep things that way. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been trying hard recently to contain the breakaway region, a slice of land along the Black Sea. But a few new actors have added themselves to the mix, and one of them is big neighbor Russia. It seems that Moscow has recently ...
Never heard of the country of Abkhazia? Well, Georgia would like to keep things that way. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been trying hard recently to contain the breakaway region, a slice of land along the Black Sea. But a few new actors have added themselves to the mix, and one of them is big neighbor Russia. It seems that Moscow has recently held talks with rebels from Abkhazia, including a local strongman who claims the right to govern a remote gorge in the region.
In recent days, Georgia and Russia have accused each other of trying to start a war in the southern Caucusus. The presence of Russian peacekeeping troops in northern Georgia doesn’t seem to be helping; Georgia now claims that Russia aims to annex Georgian territory.
All this could spell a border fight between giant Russia and tiny Georgia, undermining the struggling Tbilisi government and adding to the long list of territorial disputes around the world. In this week’s List, FP takes a look at a few of the simmering border fights that don’t often make the front pages.
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