It's worth keeping in mind that South Ossetia is a tiny region of a small country in the politically fragmented Caucasus. Roughly the size of Rhode Island --- and well less than half the size of Kosovo --- South Ossetia has an estimated population of a mere 70,000.
It is a minor pawn caught in a border dispute with Russia, a country of over 140 million. Georgia itself has a population of little more than 4 million. So it's worth remembering just how disproportionate Russia's actions have been.
Back in February, I warned about the hyperbole coming from the Clinton campaign about Kosovo's declaration of independence. I argued it would set "a new precedent for a potentially explosive series of other pro-Russian areas of the Caucusus to declare independence, such as Transdniestr from Moldova, or South-Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia." And I applauded the more cautious and even-handed Obama campaign statement.
Interestingly, the events in Georgia are offering a new chance to contrast foreign policy approaches:
Obama’s statement put him in line with the White House, the European Union, NATO and a series of European powers, while McCain’s initial statement[...] put him more closely in line with the moral clarity and American exceptionalism projected by President Bush’s first term.
A McCain adviser suggested that Obama’s statement constituted appeasement, while Obama’s camp suggested that McCain was being needlessly belligerent and dangerously quick to judge a complicated situation.
“I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an immediate end to armed conflict,” Obama said in a written statement. “Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint and to avoid an escalation to full-scale war. Georgia’s territorial integrity must be respected.”
Obama added briefly that the international community should get involved. More than an hour later, as more details of Russia’s incursion into Georgia emerged, he cited Russia more directly: “What is clear is that Russia has invaded Georgia’s sovereign — has encroached on Georgia’s sovereignty,” he told reporters in Sacramento.
McCain’s statement was longer, more detailed and more confrontational.
"[T]he news reports indicate that Russian military forces crossed an internationally recognized border into the sovereign territory of Georgia. Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory.
“The government of Georgia has called for a ceasefire and for a resumption of direct talks on South Ossetia with international mediators. The U.S. should immediately work with the EU and the OSCE to put diplomatic pressure on Russia to reverse this perilous course that it has chosen.”
