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they believed was real democracy the determination of new President Saakashvili to bring into the fold these unsettled regions the violence began once more to flare up.

In 2006 when I visited I was unable to visit parts of the Caucasus because of the risk from the conflict; tourists were considered at risk of either kidnap for political gain or else accidental death or injury in little pockets of fighting that were unpredictable and bloody. To cross from Georgia into Russia we had to go by sea because the region of Abkhazia borders Russia and the borders are closed to non-Russians. This poses problems for Georgia in safely and securely policing its own borders and opening the country up to tourism.

In the past Saakashvili has offered the South Ossetians some concessions, most notably autonomy within Georgia but South Ossetian demands have increased and in November 2006 ethnic Russians in the region voted for full independence. The Georgian government, however, still has a duty to the ethnic-Georgians living in the region who have repeatedly voted in favour of remaining an integral part of Georgia with rule from Tbilisi.

And now in 2008, Saakashvili has tried to make good his promise of reining in this troublesome region by marching troops into South Ossetia and re-establishing control. Faced with firm resistance they are reported to have bombed the South Ossetian capital and thousands of civilians have fled towards the Russian border looking for refugee status or else are cowering in the basements of their tenement buildings taking cover from the shelling.

To protect the people it regards as Russian, Moscow has sent troops into the region but its actions have gone further than the troubled border zone. Saying that no area that has played a part in the events of South Ossetia can be thought of as safe, Russian planes have bombed the Georgian city of Gori where there is a large military base and are reported to have bombed an airfield close to the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

In a stalemate the Russians have refused to respond to a request for a ceasefire from Tbilisi saying that their troops will only withdraw if Georgian troops do as well. President Putin has launched a scathing verbal attack on the Georgian government, at the heart of which are allegations that Georgia is trying to involve other countries in a dispute that not concern anyone else and pouring scorn on Georgia's ambitions to join NATO. Of course, Moscow must surely feel resentment at the events in

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