Nerd Analysis: Georgia, South Ossetia, and Kosovo

Marko Hoare, an expert in southeast Europe, takes a look at South Ossetia and Kosovo. The two, he says, are actually quite different, despite the current spate of comparisons between the two.

Hoare also has this excellent quote from another post:

The ‘independence’ of this tiny region means, effectively, its annexation by Russia - which is, in effect, a process that is underway, and which the desperate Georgian offensive is attempting to halt. I have already explained at length why South Ossetia is in no way equivalent to Kosova, either in terms of its constitutional or legal status, or in terms of its actual credentials as a ‘nation’. ‘Self-determination’ does not mean the right of a former colonial power - in this case Russia - to annex enclaves in its former colonies.