The World Post: As Russia and Iran Strengthen Ties, U.S. Should Support Key Ally Georgia

As the US is engaged in pre-election navel-gazing, Russia is not taking a summer nap, writes Dr. Ariel Cohen for The World Post.

"The Kremlin never sleeps, and especially not in August, and not during the Olympic season. The Beijing Olympics in 2008 coincided with the Russia-Georgian conflict, and the Ukrainian crisis developed during the Sochi Winter Olympics.”

Dr Cohen, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, has penned a though-provoking piece about the growing importance of the United States’ (US) continued support for Georgia following Russia’s increasing provocation and occupation of Georgian land, and growing ties between the Kremlin with Iran and Azerbaijan.

In early August Putin’s historic meeting with his counterparts from Iran and Azerbaijan focused on the North-South corridor – a rail line and highway that would link the three countries and connect them to a transport network from India to Europe via the Caucasus.

This would neutralize the East-West economic corridor long supported by the West, writes Cohen.

Coordinating Russia-Iranian political and security interests would cause power shifts in the Caucasus and may have profound implications for the US and Western interests.”

He says: "In the light of such developments … the US should not disengage from the strategic region, which is the nexus of Europe and Asia. It connects the Atlantic space to Central Asia and Eastern Europe to Iran and the Gulf.

The piece then goes on to detail Georgia-US relations, Russia’s occupation of Georgian land and Georgia’s efforts to assimilate into NATO and European structures.

Moving forward, we should expand the relations and support the Georgian bids to join NATO and the EU. Georgia is too important to fail.”

Read his full analysis here: www.huffingtonpost.com