Source: NPR's Day to Day
The Russia-Georgia conflict is important to the U.S. beyond the strategic implications of destabilizing a region with important oil and gas pipelines. The more crucial issue for the U.S. is whether it and the international community will allow the violation of international law and the use of force by “big countries against little ones” to go unpunished.
Michael McFaul explains that the conflict between Russia and the West has been brewing for years, and is a manifestation of Prime Minister Putin’s insistence on repelling Western influence in the region; especially the expansion of NATO, which Georgia aims to join.