2008 South Ossetia war / Georgia should be admitted into NATO

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Position: Georgia should be admitted into NATO

This position addresses the topic 2008 South Ossetia war.


For this position


Quotes-start.png "Breaking off arms reduction and missile defense talks with Russia is in nobody’s interest. Nor are cheap shots like throwing Russia out of an (ever less relevant) G-8. But nor can the West be cowed. It must shore up the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, with financial and other support. It must keep the trans-Caspian, Russia-circumventing energy corridor open" Quotes-end.png
From NATO’s Disastrous Georgian Fudge, by Roger Cohen (The New York Times, September 1, 2008) (view)
Quotes-start.png "In recent days, there has been an undertone of complaints from European officials suggesting that "rash" behavior from Georgia provoked Russia - thereby vindicating French and German opposition to admitting Georgia and Ukraine into the alliance. It would be difficult to imagine a more intellectually dishonest reading of the situation. While Georgia's recent behavior in South Ossetia has been far from perfect, Heritage Foundation scholar Ariel Cohen notes that Moscow has been planning a land invasion of Georgia for at least two-and-a-half years." Quotes-end.png
From Debacle in Georgia, by The Washington Times editorial board (The Washington Times, August 18, 2008) (view)

Against this position


Quotes-start.png "You don't have to find Vladimir Putin a sympathetic figure to appreciate what the world looks like from a Russian point of view. Imagine that America had lost the Cold War and gone through a decade of economic and social collapse. During this time, a victorious Soviet Union had brought several Central American nations into the Warsaw Pact and was trying to fast-track Mexico's entry. Would we feel threatened?" Quotes-end.png
From Where pragmatism goes to die, by Rod Dreher (The Dallas Morning News, August 24, 2008) (view)
Quotes-start.png "Consider that if President Bush had gotten his way over European objections, Georgia would already be a NATO member country. The recent Russian invasion would have committed NATO to go to war with Russia – which, despite its weakened state, still has a sizable army and thousands of nuclear missiles – to defend Georgia. Are Americans willing to engage in a shooting war with Russia over this former Soviet republic? What is the vital U.S. interest at stake worth paying that kind of price?" Quotes-end.png
From No more NATO expansion, by The Dallas Morning News editorial board (The Dallas Morning News, August 18, 2008) (view)
Quotes-start.png "Perhaps the biggest mystery, though, is why Georgia decided to take on Russia now. Of course, the situation had long been profoundly unsatisfactory from Georgia's point of view: Two chunks of its country - South Ossetia and Abkhazia - were outside its control and undisguised platforms for Russian trouble-making. But this state of affairs had pertained for the best part of 15 years." Quotes-end.png
From Georgia's democracy delayed by conflict with Russia, by Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial board (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 12, 2008) (view)

Mixed on this position


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