What about Adjaria? Georgia’s other battleground
According to Georgian folklore, when parcelling out countries of the world between the various nationalities, God came to the Georgians last. The Georgians invited their Maker to join them for a drink, showing him such a good time that he allotted them that part of the earth that he had intended to keep. What is it with promised lands and problems with ethnic minorities?
The current war between Georgia and South Ossetia and their Russian allies has been discussed at length in the media. Expert have ruminated on the differing defence capabilities and unexpected successes of the Georgians; various talking heads have opined at length on the prospects for a ceasefire and the implications for the locality; historians have expounded upon the history of Georgia, Ossetia and Abkhazia – to where the fighting has spread. But why has no one mentioned Adjaria?
When Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in 2004 there were 3 republics autonomous of Georgia: South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Adjaria. Their peoples had long been subject to discrimination in Georgia itself, and their secessionist tendencies had been exacerbated not so much by the dissolution of the Soviet Union as by the nationalism and authoritarianism of Georgia’s first post-Soviet elected President, Zviad Gamsakhurdia. His forces – like those of his successor, Eduard Shevardnadze – were unable to assert control over these areas and they became the domains of local strongmen. Adjaria was controlled by Aslan Abashidze who aimed for a form of autonomy rather than actual independence, happy to collect taxes and duties without any of the trappings of nationhood. After the civil wars of the early 1990s, out of which Abashidze strictly kept Adjaria, Shevardnadze (who took power less than a year after Gamsakhurdia) was willing to settle for this. Saakashvili was not.
On coming to power, Saakashvili made clear he intended to unify Georgia, including the 3 regions. Almost immediately crisis erupted with the weakest of the 3. Adjaria, which had refused to accept the legitimacy of the new regime in Tbilisi, began to develop a more open dissent. After a six month standoff, Abashidze gave in and left for exile in Moscow and trial in absentia for corruption. However while this followed economic sanctions, there was no invasion. Nonetheless, the question remains: what about Adjaria? Why do no interviewees or newspaper opinion pieces make at least fleeting reference to it? Like the other republics, it has recently been autonomous having only become part of Georgia during Soviet times; prior to this they were ruled by the Ottomans, Russians and various earlier regional conquerors. A clear target of Saakashvili’s centralist tendencies they have a somewhat shady local economy. Strategies against 1 republic ought to be of relevance when considering or analysing actions against another.
As an example, one main difference between the 2004 standoff and the 2008 conflict is that the people of Adjaria themselves became disenchanted with Abashidze and it was their public protests led to his downfall (rather like the Georgian public protests against Shevardnadze that led to the rise of Saakashvili). This has not happened so far in Abkhazia or South Ossetia. It is too late to incite such feelings in this round of hostilities, but not impossible for the future.
There are some regional differences that negate direct comparisons. Principally – and this potentially explains the lesser desire for independence in Adjaria – Adjarians are part of the Georgian ethnographic group, with a dialect language, and were long known as “Muslim Georgians” Other republics have less in common though there is some level of intermarriage amongst all. Adjaria is much more geographically accessible from Georgia than is Abkhazia, for example; and it does not border Russia, as do both other republics. 
This would appear to be the key. The involvement of Russia distinguishes these situations. In 2004 Russia eventually adopted the role of mediator. In 2008 Russia is either a facilitator or an instigator depending on how results are viewed. A similar outcome to that of Adjaria was never going to be likely as long as Moscow is attempting to strengthen its geopolitical hand by fomenting conflict. But that does not stop it from being relevant.
