Ever since the end of the cold war and the demise of the former Soviet Union, foreign policy experts have long debated whether Russia is still a domineering force in the international community. After all, the 1990s did witness the severe decline in their economic, social and military infrastructures. However, in the last ten years they have been recovering and are beginning to flex their muscles once more. The days of gangster capitalism and instability are coming to an end in Russia and  the traditional strong and powerful government rule concept has returned with a vengeance after a lengthy period of absence.

Their recent military offensive in Georgia is an obvious example that proves that they have regained the military and financial backing that could allow them to properly plan a full scale invasion on the sovereign state. The sad thing is they might just get away with it and do a more thorough job in conquering and controlling the region than they did during the bloody and drawn out wars in Chechnya. Since the conflict in Georgia is still ongoing, it's hard to tell what the future state of Georgia will become, but given Russia's long history of invasions, it's possible that Georgians might once again become subjects of the Russian empire.

The West is watching very closely on Russia's assault on Georgia, however it's very unlikely that they will provide military aid given the current state of world affairs. After all, this is the region of the world that has sparked two world wars as well as a five decade long Cold War that threatened all of humanity. No one wants to get into a full scale conflict with Russia at the moment as the West cannot afford it given the fact that political, economic and military ties with them are not only complexed but are still dependent on each other in regards to international issues of concern.

If the United States does enter a second cold war with Russia, it would be wise for them to first focus on regaining the support of the international community which hasn't been the same since 2003. This is especially crucial since the European Union is displaying mixed results in their responses to the Russian attacks.

Let's see what happens next in the never-ending drama between the East and the west as there is certainly more to come in the days ahead.