What happened in georgia
It wasn't too long ago that Georgia was in the same situation as Ukraine. However, the roots of the conflict with Ossetia date back to the early 90's when the USSR finally collapsed. Even though Georgia became an independent state, Russia still had more than enough power to influence its future and pushed for an autonomous South Ossetia. This escalated to an armed conflict in which Russian Troops aided the separatists. The conflict came to a standstill after the Sochi agreement in 1992. However, there was no definite end to the movement, it was simply stuck in transition. With Russian peacekeeping troops present, the territory gained a sort of de facto independence.
In 2008, the conflict blew up again when separatists began attacking Georgian villagers and peacekeepers and the Georgian military was deployed as a result. Russia responded by sending in troops as well, claiming that "it [was] the responsibility of the Russian government to defend vulnerable populations in countries sharing territorial borders." What ensued was a chaotic five-day conflict. "'We were scrambling for information during the critical initial hours...the most usable real time information [was coming in] via texts from friends in Georgia,'" said Daniel Fata, the senior Pentagon official on duty at the time. Unfortunately, after four days of fighting, Russian troops defeated the Georgian resistance and occupied multiple cities in Georgia. On the fifth day, with the help of Nicolas Sarkosy, the two parties reached a ceasefire agreement and sever weeks after, Russia removed most of its troops. However, Russia maintained its military forces in the reactions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In 2008, the conflict blew up again when separatists began attacking Georgian villagers and peacekeepers and the Georgian military was deployed as a result. Russia responded by sending in troops as well, claiming that "it [was] the responsibility of the Russian government to defend vulnerable populations in countries sharing territorial borders." What ensued was a chaotic five-day conflict. "'We were scrambling for information during the critical initial hours...the most usable real time information [was coming in] via texts from friends in Georgia,'" said Daniel Fata, the senior Pentagon official on duty at the time. Unfortunately, after four days of fighting, Russian troops defeated the Georgian resistance and occupied multiple cities in Georgia. On the fifth day, with the help of Nicolas Sarkosy, the two parties reached a ceasefire agreement and sever weeks after, Russia removed most of its troops. However, Russia maintained its military forces in the reactions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In the end, this violent conflict resulted in the reduction of the Georgian territory and Putin walked away without much worry. There was no decisive or effective response from the US or the EU when the moment was critical and the tide could have been turned. But, this is not just a problem for Georgia; there are severe implication for the situation in Ukraine. Elliot Cohen sums up the consequences of these actions nicely, "President Obama's history of issuing warnings and, when they are ignored, moving on smartly to the next topic gave a kind of permission ... Absent a severe penalty -- one that inflicts pain where Putin can feel it, to include Russia's economy and his personal wealth and control of that country -- the lesson learned will be, "You can get away with it."
In the end, is it really any wonder that Russia went after Ukraine?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/03/05/what-russias-invasion-of-georgia-means-for-crimea/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-paul/russia-georgia-war-in-200_b_4891391.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-paul/russia-georgia-war-in-200_b_4891391.html