US Should Give up on Solving Georgia Crisis

Richard Haass, Council on Foreign Relations | August 26, 2008

There is little the United States can do to help Georgia. ++ Russia, with its nuclear weapons, oil, dollar reserves and seat on the UN Security Council, has too much leverage on US foreign policy, so banishing Russia from the G8 would be unwise. ++ The US should lessen their dependence on Russian energy and aim to get Russia to cooperate, not provoke obstinacy. ++ Russian troops should be replaced with actual peacekeepers in Georgia and future NATO plans should remain, but only in discussion with the EU and with Russia.