Could the Pankisi Gorge Decide the Fate of the Caucasus?

Georgia has been so anxiously awaiting the arrival of US troops as if they are a miraculous solution to all the country’s problems. Russia, after a hysterical initial reaction, now tries to present this deployment as a part of cooperation with the US in the global war against terrorism and as a direct support from the US to its war against Chechnya. Washington, apparently, assumes that this small-scale ‘train-and-equip’ operation could positively contribute to the larger goal of stabilizing the Caucasus. The risks, however, might turn out to be way beyond local disturbances.