Saakashvili's Cold War Itch

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 22, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

            Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili continued his vendetta with former Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking for Western help again after apparently discovering enriched uranium coming from breakaway Russian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  When he used the Georgian army to annex South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008, Russia reacted harshly, cutting Georgia in two and destroying the army.  Saakashvili claimed Georgian authorities confiscated highly enriched uranium coming from the Russian provinces.  Saakashvili insists that the enriched came from the Russian provinces, highlighting Russian hypocrisy on non-proliferation, after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a new START treaty April 8 in Prague.  Saakashvili has not indicated the quantities of enriched uranium but press reports suggest relatively small amounts.

            Small amounts of radioactive isotopes can be deadly when former Russian Federal Security Service [FSB] or KBG agent Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned Nov. 1, 2006 in London with highly radioactive polonium-210 by a Russian spy.  Questions over the security of Russian radioactive materials raise concerns among Western non-proliferation experts, concerned that radioactive materials needed for a crude A-bomb could fall into terrorists’ hands.  Current efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear enrichment program hasn’t yielded much fruit, with Iran’s fiery President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continuing to defy U.S. and U.N.  Saakashvili’s latest complaint hopes to put pressure on Moscow to back-off its annexation of Georgia and South Ossetia.  Back in 2008, Saakashvili requested, but was denied by former President George W. Bush, U.S. forces to repel the Russian invasion.

            Saakashvili, a 43-year-old 1992 law graduate from Kiev University, received his masters’ degree in law from Columbia University in 1994.  He’s been seeking to join NATO to neutralize the Russian threat since 2008.  While the U.N. doesn’t recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russian troops are permanently based on Georgian soil to protect the breakaway provinces.  “We are not seeking an American troop presence,” said Saakashvili.  “We are asking for an American, political, economic and security presence,” asking the U.S. to destabilize already fragile relations with the Russian Federation.  Saakashvili knows the U.S. struggle to enlist Russian support on the U.N. Security Council to contain a credible Iranian nuclear threat.  Whatever radioactive materials were found in Georgia, it’s not enough to undermine U.S.-Russian relations for Saakashvili’s political problems.

            Saakashvili wants the U.S. to take as stand against Russian breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  What Saakashvili doesn’t get is that the U.S. won’t get involved with border disputes between neighbors halfway around the globe.  “If you are legally in occupation then you are responsible for controlling proliferation,” blaming Russia for the nuclear smuggling problem.  Saakashvili provides no proof of the Russian government’s involvement, more likely attributed to international nuclear smugglers, peddling small amounts of radioactive materials.  Small amounts of enriched uranium pose no threat to any country.  Since the brief war in 2008, Saakashvili believes Russia seeks nothing short of toppling the Tblisi government.  Saaksahvili antagonized Russia by allowing the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline to bring oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey’s Mediterranean port.

            Unable to defend his territory against the Red Army, Saakashvili seeks U.S. or NATO protection without appreciating geopolitical events.  Russia has little patience for countries bypassing its oil and gas business.  “Russia is involved in geopolitical games around us,” said Saakashvili.  “Vladimir Putin has never given up on the threat to restore some sort of Soviet Union,” showing the kind of paranoia and incendiary rhetoric that could provoke more Russian military action.  Saakashvili needs urgent diplomatic training to stop antagonizing his neighbors or expecting the U.S. or NATO to bail him out for gross political mismanaging.  Most NATO countries, especially France and Germany, are reluctant to include countries in Russia’s backyard, where there’s a growing chance of military confrontation.

            U.S. and NATO shouldn’t buy Saakahvili’s pleas for more political and security cooperation to help manage his poor relations with Russia.  His request for U.S. and NATO forces to manage his border dispute with Russia in 2008 was the most dangerous potential confrontation since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.  “The international situation in this region cannot be static, said Saakashvili.  “Either the West will expand eastward or hard-liners in Moscow will expand westward,” demonstrating continuing hostility toward Russia.  With the U.S. fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a growing Iranian nuclear threat on the horizon, the White House cannot take on more disputes halfway around the planet.  Given today’s real geopolitical threats, U.S.-Russian relations is far more important than fighting Saakashvili’s current border disputes or old Cold War battles. 

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.