With the eyes of the world dazzled by the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in Beijing, the pro-US government of Georgia launched an unprovoked invasion of South Ossetia, a region that has been fighting for its independence for over 18 years. Georgian forces deployed heavy artillery provided by the West to shatter and destroy the Ossetian capital city of Tskhinvali, killing thousands of civilians. This was a cynical and calculated move by a government that wanted to stir up conflict in the region. Read more...

The August conflict
The Georgia conflict (or more accurately the South Ossetian conflict) ended with a crushing defeat for Georgia, unable to stand up to the Russian military for more than a day before calling a retreat out of South Ossetia. The conflict was started by a Georgian military missile bombardment into South Ossetia followed by an invasion into the break away region in order to 'restore order'. Read more...

By Richard Brenner Read more...

Georgia’s President Gamsakhurdia was overthrown in a military coup last month. Workers could take no side in the conflict between two wings of the fragmenting Stalinist bureaucracy, writes Clare Heath. Read more...