Dr. John P. Vanzo, Bainbridge College assistant professor of political science/geography, presented a research paper at the 2008 annual meeting of the Georgia Political Science Association in Savannah. He will present an expanded version of the paper at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association.

In his paper “A Geopolitical Analysis of the Russo-Georgian War” Dr. Vanzo analyzed the political, economic and military disputes centered on the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions of Georgia. He presented the paper as part of the state conference’s Nov. 14 panel on “International Conflicts and Boundary Disputes.” The conference took place at Savannah’s Doubletree Hotel.

Since achieving independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgia, a small, ethnically diverse country in the Trans-Caucasus area of Eurasia between the Black and Caspian seas, has been the site of simmering unrest between the Georgian majority and several minority groups, Vanzo said.

The disputes escalated into full-scale warfare in July between Georgia and Russia. Vanzo’s paper examined the historical roots of the conflict, as well as its broader effect on a potential resumption of the Cold War between the United States and Russia.

A defense policy analyst during the Carter Administration, Vanzo has been a Bainbridge College faculty member since 2001. He earned his doctorate in international relations from Florida State University from which he earned his bachelor’s degree in government and master’s degrees in political science and in public administration.