There are no losers in the Georgian war, British journalist thinks

Once the armed conflict in Georgia ended, each of the three side involved had something to gain, said Thomas de Waal, a British journalist specializing on Caucasus, Russia and the Black Sea, at a public lecture organized on Friday by the OSCE Mission to Moldova. “Saakashvili didn't lose; he managed to make Georgia known to the whole world and earn the full support of the West. Russia once again demonstrated its weight as a world power, while Ossetia got rid of the Georgians”, explained de Waal. The British journalist thinks that those who suffered the most were the Georgians who live in the vicinity of the theater of war and who lost their homes in that brief war. “An essential thing missed by the journalists who reported on the conflict in Georgia was the less humane way in which people were treated on the other side of the barricade. A good journalist should treat a conflict with a certain dose of suspicion, bearing in mind that there is no such thing as absolute truth”, said Thomas de Waal. Speaking about how the media from both countries reacted, the British journalist thinks that the Georgians were very fast and publicized reports and statements right after the guns fired, but as concerns the Russian press, it took them several days to mobilize. Once engaged in their media campaigns, both Russia and Georgia were very aggressive. Commenting on the role a journalist should play in a conflict, Thomas de Waal says it is very important that media reports exist before the conflict starts, in order to inform the general public on the causes and the potential consequences of that conflict. This might delay or even stop an armed conflict from erupting. Thomas de Waal is an editor for Caucasus, of the London-based Institute for War & Peace Reporting. He also collaborates with the BBC, the Moscow Times and The Times.