Georgia

In case you've been living in a cave: Russia has established a military presence in Georgia, a US ally, and a former Soviet State.

If you haven't been living in a case, and you listen to the news, then you have probably heard that Russia invaded Georgia, violating her borders, and threatening her government in an unprecedented act of aggression to resurrect the Soviet Union and enslave the human race.

If you search multiple news sources, then you know that this is not the case.

Within Georgia is an autonomous region known as South Ossetia. This region has made repeated attempts to secede from Georgia, but has not been recognized as a sovereign nation by the civilized world. They consider themselves sovereign, but they have not been recognized as such.

Georgia send tanks and soldiers into South Ossetia's capital city to stop South Ossetia from shelling Georgian cities. South Ossetia was shelling Georgian cities because Georgian snipers were killing their soldiers. It's complicated. When Georgia decimated the capital city and killed Russian peacekeepers, the Russians responded with force.

Now virtually every politician and international organization is tripping over themselves to condemn this act of aggression. It's particularly amusing when it comes from politicians in the US. Hey, I support what we're doing in Iraq, but can we seriously condemn Russia's recent act of aggression when we have a military presence in a foreign country?

That, however, is not my point. I'm writing today because I wanted to describe my new 2-part foreign policy model:

1) "Stand up to your enemies; then reconcile when you have defeated them"

2) "Don't start World Wars over skirmishes in the Baltic States"

The second point shouldn't need to be explained, but point one deserves some clarification. When a foreign power is threatening your national security, your interests, and your sovereignty, it is prudent to take a firm and assertive posture. When you defeat your enemy, however, it is best not to rub their noses in it.

When we defeated Germany in WWI, we rubbed their noses in it. We penalized Germany much too harshly. We set in place the conditions for isolation and economic ruin. Perfect conditions for nationalist fanaticism.

When we defeated Saddam Hussein, we disbanded the army, we refused to work with tribal leaders, and we ousted anyone that actually knew what they were doing. We isolated these factions, and we ruined them economically. Perfect conditions for nationalist (or tribal, or religious) fanaticism.

The Soviet Union has been defeated. We had an opportunity to include them in the Global Market, but we allowed her resources to be pillaged and we ruined her economically. She has only now begun to make a comeback, and we cannot deny that there isn't a nationalist element to it. If we now isolate her from the international community and kick Medvedev out of the G-8, we will be fanning the flames of nationalist fanaticism.