One counterintuitive feature of the five-day war between Russia and Georgia is its minimal impact on the energy flows from the Caspian to world markets.
The war in the Caucasus has not opened any perspective of peaceful resolution of its many conflicts. The tragedy has not brought any catharsis at all. It is entirely understandable that Georgia remains defiant. And Russia may soon discover that achieving a "military victory" is not as simple as pushing Georgia's U.S.-trained but poorly led army out of South Ossetia. It is a heavy burden that adds to the many tensions in its economy and politics deformed by the country's petro-prosperity.
