Georgia and the Russian Crisis - Some background behind the Story

 Anatol Lieven in the Times Online, out of London, probably has the best background on the conflict in Georgia - between the Russians and the Georgians:

From the Times Online: "Many factors are involved in the present conflict but the central one is straightforward: the majority of the Ossetes living south of the main Caucasus range in Georgia wish to unite with the Ossetes living to the north, in an autonomous republic of the Russian Federation; and the Georgians, regarding South Ossetia as both a legal and an historic part of their national territory, refuse to accept this. Twice in the past century, when the empire to the north weakened and Georgia declared its independence, the southern Ossetes revolted against Georgian rule..."[read more]