Russia and the Caspian: The New Middle East. Part II in a series
Abkhazia have noted that authorities have systematically conducted "ethnic cleansing" against ethnic Georgians. Meanwhile, the rest of the ethnic Georgians aren't necessarily safe: they've been issued special identity documents. (Bet you didn't see anything about this on TV or in the newspapers.)
There is little to no evidence that Georgian authorities have done the same to ethnic Abkhazians. Most if not all of the refugees from the war are Georgians fleeing Abkhazia, not the other way around.
The return of displaced persons and the ceasefire boundaries are currently being negotiated bilaterally. Georgia has offered autonomous status within Georgia to Abkhazia.
South Ossetia, unlike Abkhazia, does not involve ethnic cleansing, and it does not lie directly on any energy route - though of course violence there could spill over appropriately. South Ossetia, too, is under Russian military protection.
The South Ossetian situation has involved much less violence and much more cooperation, though there are still Georgian refugees. On the other hand, Tbilisi is not yet negotiating South Ossetia's actual political status, continuing to assume it as part of Georgia (albeit occupied by Russian troops) for the foreseeable future. This may stem from the fact that the South Ossetian situation is not as urgent with regard to oil, war or morality.
These conflicts matter especially as the Baku pipeline to the Georgian port of Supsa has just started pumping oil. Needless to say, Georgia stands to get much more from this if she doesn't have a problem guaranteeing people's safety. And, Russia, as an oil-export competitor, stands to gain much less.
Chechnya
Lies across the current Caucasus pipeline, and that gives the current problems in Chechnya more importance - and visibility - then they otherwise would enjoy. The country is divided between an Islamic dictatorship, headed by President Aslan Maskhadov, and bandit/warlords who own their little pieces of the country and get by on extortion and mayhem. In fact, noted terrorist leader Salman Raduyev took responsibility for the most recent assassination attempt on Shevardnadze (how true that is remains to be seen) and has sworn to bring the Georgian Zviadists back to power.
The situation, in short, hasn't changed very much from when I first covered the Chechen situation.
The Russian interest in this is obvious. Chechnya is in limbo politically: supposed to be part of Russia, but kicked out the Russians in a 1994-1996 war. Chechens (government and bandits) run the country for now until a final decision is made in
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