In 2008 Americans became aware of a region most had never head of before: South Ossetia. The nations of Russia and Georgia fought a war over South Ossetia. South Ossetia is recognized as part of Georgia by all but three nations. Russia, Nicaragua and Venezuela all recognize South Ossetia as independent, though Russia treats it more as a satellite of Russia. North Ossetia is part of Russia. Recently, about a year after the war itself, the EU issued a report on the war that blamed both Russia and Georgia for the outbreak of the war and blamed both for violations of human rights. Ossetia remains a flashpoint today with no real resolution to the conflict.

The Caucasus region, which includes several such flashpoints including Ossetia, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Abkhazia, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, actually has a fascinating history going back as far back as history goes. To many New Yorkers, many of these cultures blend into the "Russian" communities in places like Brighton Beach. In fact, many restaurants we think of as "Russian" in NYC are actually Georgian.  read more »