Promotion of geopolitical interests through military intervention in regional conflicts: US/NATO intervention in former Yugoslavia in 1999 and Russian incursion into Georgia in 2008

The August 2008 Russian use of force against sovereign Georgia shocked the international community. The intervention triggered comparisons with the US-led NATO military intervention into the former Yugoslavia in 1999. This paper explores key foreign policy interests of the US and Russia and examines how these interests were expressed in these military interventions. The analysis revealed similarities in goals and differences in approaches. Both the US and Russia promoted their national geopolitical interests through military intervention. Nevertheless, there are considerable differences in their peace-mediation approaches with the involvement of international institutions preceding military intervention. The author believes that Russia's incursion into Georgia sends a strong message to newly independent states, in particular Ukraine, about the possible consequences of seeking close relations with the West. Indeed, the building of mutual trust and understanding between the United States and Russia provides the best hope for overcoming future aggressive actions in response to other regional conflicts in the post-Soviet space.