little war that shook the world

RONALD ASMUS is Executive Director of the Brussels-based Transatlantic Center and responsible for Strategic Planning at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs during President Clinton's second term. He has published numerous essays over the years on US-European relations, including in Foreign Affairs, Survival, the American Interest and Policy Review. He is a contributor to the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic, as well as a commentator in both the American and European news media. He lives in Brussels, Belgium.

'Mr Asmus writes with authority...The book's detailed inside accounts of Georgian and Western manoeuvring before, during and after the war are gripping.' - The Economist 'This book poses tough and awkward questions that many in the West do not want to hear. Why, for example, did the U.N. and OSCE missions on the ground or the Russian-led peacekeeping forces there fail to prevent this conflict? We should listen to the author's warnings if we are to draw the right lessons from this little war and ensure that we don't make the same mistakes again.' - The Wall Street Journal Europe 'Anyone interested in international relations should read this book...failure is a good thing if we learn from it. The Obama administration has begun by abandoning unilateralism and building a better relationship with Russia. For the rest of us, reading Ronald Asmus's book is a good place to start.' - TLS 'Ronald Asmus has given us a detailed, gripping and disturbing account of the latest war on a continent that claims to be at peace. He does not disguise his sympathies, but is scrupulously fair in attempting to untangle what really happened, and to be fair to all sides. It should be a starting point for a sadly missing debate.' - Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies, University of Oxford "Required reading if you want to know what really happened behind the scenes in the Russo-Georgian war - and how the West let Tbilisi down in the face of Russian aggression." - Senator John McCain '[P]rovides a very timely, historically clarifying, geopolitically illuminating analysis of the first post-Cold War East-West military conflict - - and does so with unique insider's knowledge of what actually did happen! an important statement and a very good read!' - Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor and author of The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership "Ron Asmus has been an original thinker, diplomat and the go-to expert on Central and Eastern Europe for the more than 20 years that I have known him. His writing should be required reading for those who care about Europe and its neighborhood, and his account of the August 2008 Russo-Georgia war is one that no one who cares about the region should miss." - Madeleine K. Albright, U.S. Secretary of State, 1997-2001 "I can think of few individuals more qualified to judge the background to, nature of and consequences of the five-day war between Russia and Georgia than Ron Asmus. With unique access to key actors, he discribes the political background of what happened in a way no one else could have done. The book is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the Caucasus, Europe, the transatlantic relations as well as the Russia of today -- and tomorrow." - Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden

• Introduction The Decision From Cold to Hot War in the Caucasus The Kosovo Precedent Diplomatic Shootout in Bucharest Diplomacy Fails The Battle Ceasefire A New Policy for the West