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DOES NATIONALISM PLAY ROLE IN GEORGIA CONFLICT?
By Peter Fedynsky
Voice of America
14 August 2008
Moscow
The conflict in Georgia involves competing territorial,
economic, political and cultural claims of Georgians, Ossetians and
Russians. Underpinning those claims is ethnic identity, which is shaped
by language, history, culture and kinship. Taken to extremes, ethnicity
can turn into nationalism, which elevates the ethnic awareness and
interests of one group above all others. VOA Moscow Correspondent
Peter Fedynsky examines the role nationalism has played in the recent
violence in the Caucasus.
Russian soldier, left, talks to Georgian police officers on the
outskirts of Gori, northwest of Tbilisi, Georgia, 14 Aug 2008 Complex
migrations and demographic changes, through many centuries, put
Ossetians and Georgians on a collision course that has resulted in
varying degrees of friction between them, most recently the current
conflict in the Caucasus.
Language can be powerful motivating force
Ossetians and Georgians speak different languages. They do not even
have the same name for the territory that both seek to control. What
Ossetians refer to as South Ossetia, Georgian authorities prefer to
call the Tskhinvali region.
Alexander Rondelli, president of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic
and International Studies in Tbilisi, notes that language is a
powerful and often dangerous motivating force in many societies,
around the world.
"It's a very strong feeling; very strong feeling, because it
mobilizes people. It's vernacular mobilization, I would say," said
Rondelli. "It's something which keeps people together. And, it's
something for which people are really ready to be killed."
Accusations of ethnic cleansing
And, in Georgia they are being killed. Although casualty figures are
difficult to confirm, both sides are accusing each other of ethnic
cleansing. Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental
organization, reports Ossetians have attacked Georgian villages. Russia
accuses Georgia of outright genocide against Ossetians, a small
ethnic group that straddles the border of northern Georgia and
southern Russia.
Hasan Dzutsev, professor of sociology at the North Ossetian Institute
of Humanitarian and Social Research in Vladikavkaz told VOA all
Ossetians seek reunification.
Quest for reunification
>From left, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Abkhazia's President
Sergei Bagapsh, and leader of South Ossetia's rebel government,
Eduard Kokoity in Moscow, 14 Aug 2008 Dzutsev says reunification is
an age-old dream, noting that until 1922, Ossetians lived together on
one territory, but in Stalin's time, they were artificially divided
when Southern Ossetia was transferred to Georgia and the North was
given to Russia.
Alexander Rondelli says Northern and Southern Ossetia were two of
many autonomies created across borders of former Soviet Republics,
with the intention of fomenting ethnic tensions in a classic divide
and conquer tactic. Today, Russian troops claim a peacekeeping role
in South Ossetia. Georgians call them invaders and fear the Kremlin
is seeking to destroy their fragile democracy.
Russian interest in Ossetia
In Moscow, independent Russian political analyst Alexander Konovalov
says huge industrial projects during the communist era changed the
ethnic composition of Soviet republics, as large numbers of Russian
speakers were sent to construct, for example, a nuclear power plant
in Lithuania or a cotton mill in Central Asia. Konovalov says this
created an ethnic time bomb, which exploded after the collapse of the
Soviet Union, as various peoples of the USSR sought to reclaim their
languages and ethnic identities. Konovalov notes that many Russians,
himself included, do not feel a need to affirm their ethnic identity.
The analyst says there were many Russians in the Soviet Union and that,
as a rule, large ethnic groups tend to ignore the identity of other
peoples and do not overly concern themselves about their own. He says
there is no need for affirmation, because it is clear that Russians
are Russians.
Russian tanks on the outskirts of Gori, northwest of capital Tbilisi,
Georgia, 14 Aug 2008 However, smaller ethnicities are sensitive to
the possibility of subjugation and even extinction. There are about
500,000 Ossetians; roughly 70,000 of them in Georgia. Hasan Dzutsev
says South Ossetians fear complete annihilation by Georgians -
a charge Tbilisi says is without basis.
What is driving conflict?
Alexander Konovalov says the conflict in Georgia involves two
fundamental but competing principles of international relations,
which he says poses a threat to global security.
Konovalov says the first principle is the inviolability of
international borders established by the United Nations and the Final
Act of the 1975 Helsinki Agreement. He says there is also the principle
of self-determination of peoples enunciated by U.S. President Woodrow
Wilson's "14 Points" in 1918. Konovalov says, without exception,
one side or the other of every ethnic conflict cites one or the
other principle.
The analyst says international law has not established which of these
principles should take precedence. Thus, the need one ethnic group
has for independent territory to allow its language and culture to
bear political and economic fruit collides with another group which
needs that same territory to protect its vital interests.
Each analyst interviewed for this report cited examples of multi-ethnic
societies that work, such as Switzerland and Canada. The Caucasus
is a place where ethnic animosities have exploded in bloodshed. In
recent times, Chechens fought Russians, Ingushetians struggled against
Ossetians, Armenians battled Azeris and the Abkhazians competed with
Georgians. The war that has erupted between Ossetians and Georgians
is an ethnic struggle that has global implications for oil, democracy
and political influence in the post-Soviet world.
By Peter Fedynsky
Voice of America
14 August 2008
Moscow
The conflict in Georgia involves competing territorial,
economic, political and cultural claims of Georgians, Ossetians and
Russians. Underpinning those claims is ethnic identity, which is shaped
by language, history, culture and kinship. Taken to extremes, ethnicity
can turn into nationalism, which elevates the ethnic awareness and
interests of one group above all others. VOA Moscow Correspondent
Peter Fedynsky examines the role nationalism has played in the recent
violence in the Caucasus.
Russian soldier, left, talks to Georgian police officers on the
outskirts of Gori, northwest of Tbilisi, Georgia, 14 Aug 2008 Complex
migrations and demographic changes, through many centuries, put
Ossetians and Georgians on a collision course that has resulted in
varying degrees of friction between them, most recently the current
conflict in the Caucasus.
Language can be powerful motivating force
Ossetians and Georgians speak different languages. They do not even
have the same name for the territory that both seek to control. What
Ossetians refer to as South Ossetia, Georgian authorities prefer to
call the Tskhinvali region.
Alexander Rondelli, president of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic
and International Studies in Tbilisi, notes that language is a
powerful and often dangerous motivating force in many societies,
around the world.
"It's a very strong feeling; very strong feeling, because it
mobilizes people. It's vernacular mobilization, I would say," said
Rondelli. "It's something which keeps people together. And, it's
something for which people are really ready to be killed."
Accusations of ethnic cleansing
And, in Georgia they are being killed. Although casualty figures are
difficult to confirm, both sides are accusing each other of ethnic
cleansing. Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental
organization, reports Ossetians have attacked Georgian villages. Russia
accuses Georgia of outright genocide against Ossetians, a small
ethnic group that straddles the border of northern Georgia and
southern Russia.
Hasan Dzutsev, professor of sociology at the North Ossetian Institute
of Humanitarian and Social Research in Vladikavkaz told VOA all
Ossetians seek reunification.
Quest for reunification
>From left, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Abkhazia's President
Sergei Bagapsh, and leader of South Ossetia's rebel government,
Eduard Kokoity in Moscow, 14 Aug 2008 Dzutsev says reunification is
an age-old dream, noting that until 1922, Ossetians lived together on
one territory, but in Stalin's time, they were artificially divided
when Southern Ossetia was transferred to Georgia and the North was
given to Russia.
Alexander Rondelli says Northern and Southern Ossetia were two of
many autonomies created across borders of former Soviet Republics,
with the intention of fomenting ethnic tensions in a classic divide
and conquer tactic. Today, Russian troops claim a peacekeeping role
in South Ossetia. Georgians call them invaders and fear the Kremlin
is seeking to destroy their fragile democracy.
Russian interest in Ossetia
In Moscow, independent Russian political analyst Alexander Konovalov
says huge industrial projects during the communist era changed the
ethnic composition of Soviet republics, as large numbers of Russian
speakers were sent to construct, for example, a nuclear power plant
in Lithuania or a cotton mill in Central Asia. Konovalov says this
created an ethnic time bomb, which exploded after the collapse of the
Soviet Union, as various peoples of the USSR sought to reclaim their
languages and ethnic identities. Konovalov notes that many Russians,
himself included, do not feel a need to affirm their ethnic identity.
The analyst says there were many Russians in the Soviet Union and that,
as a rule, large ethnic groups tend to ignore the identity of other
peoples and do not overly concern themselves about their own. He says
there is no need for affirmation, because it is clear that Russians
are Russians.
Russian tanks on the outskirts of Gori, northwest of capital Tbilisi,
Georgia, 14 Aug 2008 However, smaller ethnicities are sensitive to
the possibility of subjugation and even extinction. There are about
500,000 Ossetians; roughly 70,000 of them in Georgia. Hasan Dzutsev
says South Ossetians fear complete annihilation by Georgians -
a charge Tbilisi says is without basis.
What is driving conflict?
Alexander Konovalov says the conflict in Georgia involves two
fundamental but competing principles of international relations,
which he says poses a threat to global security.
Konovalov says the first principle is the inviolability of
international borders established by the United Nations and the Final
Act of the 1975 Helsinki Agreement. He says there is also the principle
of self-determination of peoples enunciated by U.S. President Woodrow
Wilson's "14 Points" in 1918. Konovalov says, without exception,
one side or the other of every ethnic conflict cites one or the
other principle.
The analyst says international law has not established which of these
principles should take precedence. Thus, the need one ethnic group
has for independent territory to allow its language and culture to
bear political and economic fruit collides with another group which
needs that same territory to protect its vital interests.
Each analyst interviewed for this report cited examples of multi-ethnic
societies that work, such as Switzerland and Canada. The Caucasus
is a place where ethnic animosities have exploded in bloodshed. In
recent times, Chechens fought Russians, Ingushetians struggled against
Ossetians, Armenians battled Azeris and the Abkhazians competed with
Georgians. The war that has erupted between Ossetians and Georgians
is an ethnic struggle that has global implications for oil, democracy
and political influence in the post-Soviet world.