I’ll strike this up to strange timing. On the same day of reports of increasing tensions between Russia and Georgia, including Russian troop movements along the Russian/Georgian border and an increase of Russian forces in the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, CNN runs a piece on… wait for it… the joys of hiking along the Russian/Georgian border. Huh?

Anyway, I guess if you are not enticed by the descriptions of “snow-swept crags straining up into the rush of clouds” or intrigued by the stories of dining on boiled sheep’s fat, then maybe the whole cross-border conflict and geopolitical tensions thing might interest you.

The CNN piece does contain these “tips,” by the way:

Russia’s North Caucasus is a volatile, corrupt and mind-boggling place, a mix of mindsets that is one part holdover Soviet bureaucracy, one part clan-driven, xenophobic distrust, one part anti-terrorist police policies. The rewards are immense if you have a thick skin, willingness to grease a palm or two, and the patience to weather capricious bureaucracy.

Yeah, and don’t forget the armies on the move.

Somebody call Robert Young Pelton.

Related Posts

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• August 22, 2008 -- Interesting Quote on Russian Invasion of Georgia
• August 19, 2008 -- SecState Rice Announces New NATO-Georgia Commission and Discusses U.S.-Russia Relations
• August 15, 2008 -- Statement from SecState Rice on Georgian Cease-Fire Agreement and Next Steps
• August 14, 2008 -- Parsing the Georgian Cease-Fire Agreement
• August 13, 2008 -- The Security Council and the Use of Force Post-Georgia War? Michael Glennon and ‘Desuetude’
• August 12, 2008 -- South Ossetia and “the Will of the People”
• August 12, 2008 -- Georgia Taking Russia to Court? And Vice Versa?
• August 11, 2008 -- The Investigative Committee in Russia and Alleged Georgian Crimes?
• August 11, 2008 -- Frozen Conflicts Unfreezing
• August 9, 2008 -- The War in Georgia: Issues of Escalation and Justification
• August 9, 2008 -- International Law, Power Politics, and Russian Intervention in Georgia
• August 8, 2008 -- Frozen Conflict Becomes Hot War: Russia Invades Georgia
• September 10, 2010 -- Next Week at the ICJ: Georgia v. Russia Oral Proceedings and Swearing-in of Donoghue and Xue
• June 16, 2009 -- Russia and the “Bilateralization” of the Georgian Conflict
• April 9, 2009 -- Keep Your Eyes on Moldova and Georgia Today
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• August 14, 2008 -- The Curious Article 27(3) of the UN Charter
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• February 17, 2008 -- Europe’s Newest State (?)
• December 9, 2007 --
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• September 17, 2006 -- Secession by Referendum?
• August 4, 2006 -- Tricky, Tricky, Transnistria
• August 2, 2006 -- Assessing the Legal Issues of the Moldovan Separatist Conflict
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