Western policymakers are finally making their official statements on the crisis in South Ossetia. Our own Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, has said he “deplores” the Russian attacks on Georgia. George Bush has called Russia’s actions “disproportionate,” and told Vladimir Putin that “this violence is unacceptable”. Whilst the most ominous warning comes from Dick Cheney, who stated that Russian aggression “must not go unanswered”.
But for all the pejorative languange, just what can the West do? There are several factors counting against military intervention, whether by NATO forces, or by individual countries, such as the US or the UK. Here are some brief outlines:
1) Fullscale war. The number one fear is that military engagement would result in fullscale conflict between Russia and the West. It’s easy to deploy hyperbole here, and talk about “World War Three”. But, certainly, a hot war with Russia would be of enormous singificance; and could prove extremely costly in terms of both military resources and human life. One
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