While Ukraine smolders and Syria burns, older conflicts still linger. The conflict over Abkhazia marked a gloomy twenty-fifth anniversary this summer. The core issue in the dispute—the status of the republic of Abkhazia—is as deeply unresolved as ever. Next year marks another anniversary, ten years since the Georgia-Russia war of 2008, after which Russia recognized Abkhazia as independent and made it yet more intractable.

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