ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the background and the causes of the Russia-Georgia conflict as well as various responses of the international community, focusing mainly on the impact the conflict may have had on Russian foreign policy, the Sino-Russia relationship, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and also the geopolitical influence on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region. We argue that the major influences of the Russia-Georgia conflict are: (1) the nature of the CIS countries’ foreign policies hasn’t changed fundamentally; however, the priority has shifted; (2) regional cooperation is moving forward but confronted with growing obstacles; (3) energy cooperation has drawn broad attention, but competition for energy is fierce; (4) despite the generally stable situation, the region still faces new challenges in security; and (5) the competition between Russia and the West will continue. Uzbekistan's withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Community (EURASEC) was a blow to the Russian-led CIS regional cooperation. In sum, the CIS may face challenges in the future, although the conflict hasn’t caused fundamentally geopolitical restructuring.
