The powers play chess, people lose.

The much applauded Rose Revolution that turned Georgia from Shevarnadze's playground into what many believed to be a Western democracy has definitely gone awry. Some suspicions have been brewing in my head right from the beginning of it, seeing the very close ties Saakashvili had with certain Western dipliomats (not least the US Ambassador Richard Miles, who happened to be the ex-US ambassador to Belgrade) and organizations, with George Soros's OSI sponsoring trips to Belgrade for several Georgians.

Despite the suspicions, it could have worked. A government founded on integrity and democracy would have proved that real democracy can indeed root itself in the former Soviet space. The new government, however, has blown these chances by straining relationships with Russia and mismanaging the internal situation. A series of suspicious deaths of critical journalists and ministers, as well as reports of human-rights violations and censorship don't show Saakashvili and his entourage in a positive light.

As much as one can question the veridicity of these conspiracy theories and reports, mass protests against the evils that the government was created to eliminate are not a good sign.

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0315866620071103?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Again, whether these are spontaneous or masterminded is matter for speculation, since Russia still has a lot of power and influence in the region.

Georgia has been turned into a chessboard, and the prize for winning is oil royalties. See, it lies on one of the exit routes for Caspian oil, whose reserves would make the Saudis pale.

Which route can the oil take? Through Russia to the Black Sea and Novorossijsk, through, surprise, Chechnya. Alternatively, through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey (pipeline currently in operation). Or through Iran to Bandar-Abbas. Or Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

I spot a pattern: half of the turmoil and over 60% of oil conspiracy theories revolve around this region. I'm not saying this is a fight for the oil. I'm just suggesting that access to natural resources is an excellent reason to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries. Russia and the West do it with equal gusto.

Those who find themselves in the usual lose-lose situation are the ordinary citizens of those countries, caught up in events of a magnitude they can't grasp.