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Russia’s Offensive in Georgia a Signal to NATO to Stay Away from Its ’Space’

F. Stephen Larrabee, an expert on NATO and Eastern Europe, says Russia’s invasion of Georgia was an effort to limit “Western influence into the former Soviet space.”

By experts and staff

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  • F. Stephen Larrabee
  • Bernard Gwertzman
    Visiting Fellow

You’ve been a student of East-West relations for some time. Where do you think these relations are going in the aftermath of the Russia-Georgia conflict, which is still not completely over?

agreement

What would be your advice to the next administration on how to deal with all of this?

Putin’s speech

Orange Revolution

In the aftermath of all of this, the people who argued against the expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe in the Clinton administration are now coming forward again and saying they were right. What was your position at that time?

You’ve been an advisor on some projects with the Georgian government. Can you provide any insight on why President Mikheil Saakashvili decided to send his troops into South Ossetia when he had to know that the Russia would answer with force?

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been urging, as he has for some time, that Russia be asked to leave the G8 [Group of Eight leading industrial states]. There has been talk of barring Russia from joining the World Trade Organization and there is talk about the collapse of the U.S.-Russia civil nuclear agreement. Where do we stand on various arms control agreements with Russia?

START Agreement

It’s unclear to me if the Russians themselves realized how much they were going to strain their relations with the European Union or the United States because of the move into Georgia.

I guess they were particularly upset at the last NATO summit, which declared that Georgia and Ukraine should eventually become members of NATO.

The White House announced today that Vice President Cheney will go to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, and Italy early next month. The purpose of the trip is to consult on matters of mutual interest. Is this wise?