Events in Georgia: strategic surprise or strategic challenge?

After a preliminary analysis of events in Georgia in early August 2008, what message are we getting? According to whether you are Georgian or Russian it will obviously not be the same message. But how are we to react, in this early part of the twenty-first century, as a player on the international scene, in the face of violence and military force on Europe's boundaries? Rather than simply reacting to events and trotting out the old Cold War clichés, how can we better apprehend our future and the role of strategy in it? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]