Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World

by Adam Tooze

early August 2008, with Russian encouragement, irregular forces in the rebel province of South Ossetia began shelling positions of the Georgian army.56 On August 7, apparently believing that they had Washington’s approval, the Georgian government took the bait. A sudden counterstrike by Georgia’s American-trained army would subdue Ossetia and Abkhazia, settle the outstanding territorial questions and clear the way for a successful NATO membership application. As the awe-inspiring opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics exploded across Western TV screens, Georgia launched its army and air force into an invasion of South Ossetia. Moscow’s response was devastating. In a matter of days the Russian army crushed Georgia’s