so there is an interesting point as well. Should states grant citizenship to persons outside of the state? Is that a way of manufacturing irredentist claims to another country? is it in the same vein as settling occupied land and then claiming it as your own? is there a reason that south ossetia can't claim sovereignty while kosovo can? what is the reason? but all of NATO seems to be pissed off. also, on CSPAN there was a conference talking about Georgia. One of the military advisors said that Russia had the strange policy that they would protect Russian citizens abroad--which i thought was a pretty consistent and normal policy for any state... he interpreted the actions as Russia stating that Putin was firmly in control (there never is any evidence of this offered, it is just assumed to be true as in the vein of something that Russia would do) and that it sought to return to its rightful position of power as an empire.
i thought that his analysis was rather ridiculous and superficial.
further, does anyone know more details about the agreements not to push NATO eastward to former eastern-bloc states that Reagan made with Gorbachev?