The Tanks of August

Book excerpt: The publication of this book coincides with the second anniversary of the armed conflict between Russia and Georgia on August 8-12, 2008, now dubbed the Five Day War. The conflict was triggered by Georgia's ambitious and nationalistic president, Mikhail Saakashvili, who attempted a "blitzkrieg" to conquer the former Georgian autonomy of South Ossetia, which had proclaimed independence. That attempt led to a military intervention by Russia, which acted as the guarantor of peace in the region, and the first "official war" between Russia and one of the former Soviet republics. This work contains six essays, from a primarily Russian perspective, which provide an in-depth analysis of the political, social, economic, and military context for and causes of the war, the nature of wartime military operations, the human and material costs of the brief struggle, and the war's likely implications for the future.