ABSTRACT
The collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics plunged the former Soviet Republic of Georgia into political chaos and civil war. Georgians striving for independence, statehood and national reassertion felt deep national insecurity. In South Ossetia, according to the 1989 census, Ossetians accounted for approximately two-thirds of the population and Georgians the other third. The history of the area, including the history of relations between Ossetians and Georgians, has been one of the key issues of the conflict. Georgia was one of the first republics of the Soviet Union to seize the opportunity of Gorbachev’s glasnost policy and call for independence. The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe—the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe predecessor—first became involved in the Georgian-South Ossetian problem in 1992. There have been many initiatives aimed at bringing Georgians and South Ossetians together through non-governmental organizations since the end of hostilities.
