What the West should do now

There are two things that the West should now do in relation to Georgia. The first is to help preserve the fragile truce that now exists between Georgia and Russia. That means that Western policymakers have to be involved, encouraging and prominent. They should not shy away from using the carrot and the stick, in the form of incentives and sanctions. And they should consider deploying a peacekeeping force in the region, and what its role would be. So far, the French have lead by example. Hopefully, that example will be followed by other nations – including Britain – at an emergency meeting of EU nations later today.

Most popular

Matthew Lynn

Spain will regret its 100 per cent expat property tax

The second is to help find, as Gordon Brown put it, a “permanent solution” to the disputed territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. But things aren’t looking promising on that front.