19:20, 17 July 2008

Azerbaijani political scientists think Russian-Georgian war improbable

A number of Azerbaijani and Russian political analysts assert that the tension in Russian-Georgian relations will hardly ever grow into an open armed conflict.

"The situation is complicated, and I can exclude nothing in the circumstances. I hope Georgian and Russian leaders will have enough wisdom not to admit tragedy. Any precipitate steps from both parties will lead to very pitiable consequences," political scientist Rasim Musabekov made his comments to the new tension spiral in coil of Georgian-Russian relations.

"From the viewpoint of the moods prevailing in Russian and Georgian elites, both Moscow and Tbilisi now benefit from the "suspension" and uncertainty, a controlled "military alarm". Another point is that in this sort of situation sometimes a spontaneous "shot" may happen, and then very quickly the situation can get out of control. However, this probability is extremely small," says Dmitri Andreev, Russian political scientist and deputy editor-in-chief of the "Political Class" magazine.

Author: Rafael Gasanov, CK correspondent