Understanding the Russia-Georgia (2008) Using Realism and Liberalism

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[...] The 2008 Russia-Georgia war confirms this fact. Territorial disputes, power struggles, and regional tensions characterize this confrontation. The situation in the war is the background for the valuation of traditional power relations and the transformation of relations of dependence and institutionalism in the battlefields of the modern era. The Description of the Countries at War The war of 2008 between Russia and Georgia was a crucial conflict in the Caucasus, which has a strong historical background of geopolitical tensions and ethnic (Mikhelidze, 2009: P. [...]

[...] The Application of Theories and the Conclusion In evaluating the realism model fit to the Russia-Georgia War 2008, the security dilemma presents plausible explanations of what caused the conflict. The Security Dilemma posits that to secure themselves, states may inadvertently provoke insecurity in others via defensive military actions. In Russia and Georgia, the Security Dilemma becomes evident when Georgia strives to regain control of its two disputed regions - South Ossetia and Abkhazia (Mikhelidze, 2009: p. 6). Georgia perceived these inputs as defensive measures to preserve its territorial integrity and sovereignty. [...]

[...] The notions of Security Dilemma and Wars of Expansion clarify how the involved parties perceived threats and saw opportunities for territorial expansion. According to realism, self-help and the pursuit of national interests are dominant. This explains Russia's behavior in the region, motivated by the desire to maintain regional leadership and prevent NATO expansion. However, Realism's depiction of non-state actors overlooks normative consideration as it cannot capture the whole complexity of the conflict, especially international norms and institutions. On the contrary, Liberalism proposes another perspective focusing on economic interdependence and institutional cooperation. [...]

[...] Turning to the perspective of Liberalism, two alternative explanations offer insights into the Russia-Georgia conflict: Economic Interdependence and Liberal Institutionalism (Kasakov, 2013: P. 6). Economic Interdependence means countries which have deep economic ties are less likely to undertake the conflict because the costs will be mutual for both sides. In the context of Russia and Georgia, there was limited economic interdependence due to Georgia's quest for a closer connection to Western institutions such as NATO and the EU (K?í? & Shevchuk, 2009: P. [...]

[...] The Security Dilemma provides a plausible account of why the Russia-Georgia war broke out by showing how the quest for security by one state can unintentionally make the security environment unstable and raise tensions between neighbor states. On the contrary, the principle of the Wars of Expansion in Realism presents a different interpretation of the Russia-Georgia conflict. Wars of Expansion illustrate that states strive to take over other territories and extend their influence to increase their power and security (Karagiannis, 2013: P. [...]