Created: 2008-08-29 15:20:56

After the Russia-Georgia conflict, the question on Russia's overall intentions was raised.

The concern mainly comes from the assumption that the mentioned conflict was created intentionally and its aim was to occupy Georgia or at least to overthrow its pro-democratic leaders. Despite being in a strategic geopolitical location, Georgia is still a very small country. If Russia has the plan to restore its authority in some important territories, Georgia probably is only the starting point. Following this logic, Russia may have the plan of regaining USSR territories, or at least to have a puppet governments there. As supporters of this theory predict, next areas of interest could be Ukraine and the Baltic states - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

However, some people think that in our times such plan would be doomed to failure. European Union, USA and NATO would never let it happen. Russia just wants to show-off its power, frighten its opponents and gain a better international standing.

Which theory do you support? Do you believe Russia is starting to exploit its predatory habits again? Or are we just panicking too much and Russia just wants to remind of its power in a quaintly way?