Paul Goble: Is Moscow preparing for a new war against Georgia?
Russian military troops take part in a military drill on Sernovodsky polygon close to the Chechnya border, some 260 km from south Russian city of Stavropol, on March 19, 2015.
President Vladimir Putin has been organizing so many military exercises in so many parts of the Russian Federation (see EDM, March 19) - a process that has required Moscow to shift units from one area to another - that it is virtually impossible to say just where he intends to use military force next. But there is one possible clue: A recent article on the Kavkazskaya Politika website (Kavpolit.com) suggested that Moscow is preparing for a "new war" in the Caucasus against a country pursuing membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Yet, this piece was quickly taken down, perhaps indicating just how sensitive its conclusions may be for the Kremlin.
