Some of you know that I am currently working on a project carried out in Georgia. While I am not in Georgia at the moment, left the country about 1 1/2 months ago, and was only planning to go back by the end of this month, I am deeply involved in what’s going on there, both emotionally and practically through friends suffering from the conflict.

With the military action in Georgia, as it seems, slowly subsiding, I hope I will be able to post many of the materials on my trips to the country in the past as soon as I find the time. Until then, I would like to direct the attention of those of you interested in the development in Georgia to a few sources that, over the course of the past week, I found very valuable.

Firstly, do pay a visit the blogs of two of my expat friends from Georgia, also working in charity and development, Sian and Ian. Both fled the country over the past days as the problems seemed to get worse but while I don’t know about Ian at the moment, Sian has made it safely across the border to Yerevan and continues to update us about what’s happening to her and in the region.

Those of you who would like to get a better visual impression of the country itself may want to have a look at my own photogallery or those at “Caucasus Pictures”. The latter one also features material on the conflict itself. Also highly recommended is the “Google Earth Georgia Overlay” that is available for Georgia in Google Earth and features plenty of visual information. Check Google Earth for it.

I was quite shocked that the majority of the reader comments on many major German newspaper sites were strongly pro-Russian and some even only thinly veiled anti-semitic. Most news sources these days kept on endlessly repeating the mantra of either “we don’t have a clue what’s going on, really”, or just reprinted the stream of messages coming out of sources like AFP or Reuters. Real insight was rare, in my opinion.

The New York Times ran one of the best articles I’ve found on the crisis so far named “Taunting the Bear” and I would like to recommend it highly to those unfamiliar with the region (and a little time on their hands). The article “Georgia’s war worries” on The Economist offers a great backgrounder for those of you with less time.

Finally, those who speak German may want to have a look at today’s edition of the “Handelsblatt” that, among other insights into the more virtual workings of the conflict, offers a brief interview with yours truly. I would also like you to monitor my Twitter account described in the article.