Presentations

   

Presentation of the book

On August 5, 2009 the presentation of the book "The Guns of August 2008: Russia's War in Georgia" was held at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies. The book which was published by M.E. Sharpe, is written by 10 experts from the U.S., Europe, Russia and Georgia (Thomas Goltz, Thornike Gordadze, Andrei Illarionov, Niklas Nilsson, Stephen Blank, David Smith, Johanna Popjanevski, Pavel Felgenhauer, Paul Goble and James Sherr), and edited by Svante E. Cornell and Frederick Starr. The book describes the August 2008 war and conveys authors' analyzes and evaluations. It also includes maps of Georgia, photos and official or non-official documents for assisting the reader to fully comprehend the August developments.

The presentation which was attended by the representatives of Georgian civil society, expert community, academia and media was opened by the president of the Foundation, Dr. Alexander Rondeli. The presenters included editor of the book, Professor Svante Cornell, a Research Director of the Central Asia - Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program and authors, Dr. Thornike Gordadze, a research fellow at the French Institute of Anatolian Studies and Ambassador David Smith, a director of the Georgian Security Analysis Center. The presenters described in general the aim of the book - to explore the roots of the conflict back more than a decade ago, give details of August Russian aggression as well as touch upon the developments preceding the war and its consequences to date.

The presentation was followed by an engaging discussion and Q&A session