Should Georgia retake Abkhazia and South Ossetia?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Why not? Russia is too tied up this time.

[Splash]

Unless there was a trigger upon which Georgia would immediately ascend to NATO once those territories were retook, then no, absolutely not. Russia is bogged down in Ukraine for the time-being but that won't last forever. Once they're able to muster sufficient forces, Russia will take those lands right back (and maybe then some, if Putin is looking for a consolation prize after defeat in Ukraine).

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

There's also Transnistria, but they're not terribly far from the action, so obviously Moldova is just sticking to cheering for Ukraine from the sidelines.

[CumbrianLefty]

No, they should seek more peaceful ways of extending their influence.

Russia doing something bad is not an excuse for other countries to do it.

[rc18]

Only if current events lead to a severe political crisis in Russia.

They could help the Ukrainians out though by fully mobilising, forcing Russia to support its bases there, pulling manpower away from Ukraine.

[Pericles]

Georgia is a much smaller country than Ukraine, it would be insane for them to start a war.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

Georgia is a small country that even a busy Russia could handle. Georgia is too weak and only has 3.7 million people.

[Zinneke]

This is one of those conflicts that isn't as black and white as the Ukrainian one. The Western narrative of poor Georgia being the victim forgets the deep rooted political differences between these communities and the war crimes Georgia comitted in the mid-90s itself.

[DavidB.]

They don't have the strength to do so and shouldn't risk more of the country being occupied.

[Sol]

I assume the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia probably do not want to rejoin Georgia, at least under that sort of circumstance, especially South Ossetia which IIRC has been openly contemplating annexation to Russia.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

I assume the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia probably do not want to rejoin Georgia, at least under that sort of circumstance, especially South Ossetia which IIRC has been openly contemplating annexation to Russia.

The Georgian populations of these communities were forcibly displaced during and after the war, and most of those are still alive. The picture gets more complicated when you factor in what the survivors would want.

War is a bad idea but Georgia could try to negotiate the return of these people to their homes.

[Sol]

I assume the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia probably do not want to rejoin Georgia, at least under that sort of circumstance, especially South Ossetia which IIRC has been openly contemplating annexation to Russia.

The Georgian populations of these communities were forcibly displaced during and after the war, and most of those are still alive. The picture gets more complicated when you factor in what the survivors would want.

War is a bad idea but Georgia could try to negotiate the return of these people to their homes.

Yeah for clarification I'd be in favor of some sort of negotiated settlement where Abkhazia and South Ossetia return to Georgia, and my educated guess is that independent of Russian interference the populations in both would probably support that too if there were sufficient guarantees for autonomy.

I just don't think war is the answer, as it promises to result in another round of displacement, except of Abkhaz and Ossetian people to Russia.

As aside, it's a strange reflection of our current world order that an ethnically Circassian-adjacent breakaway state is tightly aligned with a Russian nationalist regime in Moscow.

[Person Man]

It would be funny.

[PSOL]

No, it is best to let go and realize that they aren’t getting these territories back