The current armed conflict in the Caucasus has a long history. The province of South Ossetia is sovereign Georgian territory, but it is also a Russian ethnic enclave where many Russian citizens live under the tacit protection of their mother country next door. When Georgia moved to reassert its sovereignty by what was in effect a military invasion, Russia's reply was in kind, and devastating. So Western dismay at Russia's willingness to bully its neighbour is partly qualified by the perception that Georgia was to an extent the author of its own misfortune. It swept aside arrangements that had kept the peace for nearly 20 years. President Mikheil Saakashvili utterly misjudged Russia's likely response; but if he thought he could expect Washington's support for his adventure beyond mere words, he misjudged that too.

The seeds of this conflict, however, are not only regional and ethnic. Russia's strategic overview is that since the end of the Cold War, Washington has orchestrated its gradual encirclement by unfriendly governments. The central European and Baltic countries of the old Soviet empire were drawn into Nato and European Union membership. Promises of the same were held out to Georgia and Ukraine, while pro-Western governments were encouraged and supported there. In Washington this was presented as the advancement of capitalism, democracy and human rights in place of the previous Communist regimes; from Moscow this simply looked threatening. Nostalgia for Russia's status as a rival superpower to America has added to the sense that Russian national pride is at stake.

The two European countries most sensitive to Russian anxieties are Germany and France, incidentally the only countries to have sent their armies marching to Moscow in the last two centuries. They have resisted applications for Nato membership from Georgia and Ukraine, while Britain has followed America's line. The overall strategic intentions are the same - to dissuade Russia from ...

The Beijing Olympic Games symbolise China's arrival in the front rank of the international community. Barring a major mishap, the Games are set to be an impressive organisational triumph as well as a shop window for China's own sporting prowess - it confidently expects to win more medals than any other nation. But amid all the glory there has to be one serious reservation about China's success story ...

Bishops of the Anglican Communion were fortunate in their choice of speaker on Monday, because talking about the big picture is one of the things the Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, does best. He has an acute understanding of the role of religion in society, and an ability to use an attractive narrative style that those not of his persuasion can easily follow. Religion is important to the health and sustainability ...

In his memoir, A Crown of Thorns, Cardinal John Heenan of Westminster called the crisis that overtook global Catholicism in the summer of 1968 "the greatest shock the Church has suffered since the Reformation". He was referring of course to the publication of the papal encyclical, Humanae Vitae, at the end of July in that tumultuous year, and its painful and divisive aftermath. Forty years on, the most striking ...

Bishops of the Anglican Communion have gathered for the Lambeth Conference, which has begun with a retreat. But the calm atmosphere of prayer and contemplation evoked by the word seems to be in strong contrast with the rancorous character of the preliminaries so far. There does not seem to be much grace about the place, and with grace comes respect. Perhaps the retreat will go some way towards repairing that, although ...