The period before World War One included much social progress, but the equilibrium was upset by national minorities rebelling against multi-national empires, especially the Hapsburg, Russian and Ottoman Empires.

World War One was a major struggle in a long effort to reorganize the geo-political arrangements so that governing states are defined largely by language groups. Almost 100 years have passed since WWI began, and much has been accomplished through that struggle. With some major exceptions (e.g. Africa, South Asia), most people live in a country where their native language is their government language. This is an important condition enabling and fostering the development of individual confidence, social solidarity and democratic self-government.

The current crisis in Georgia is a residual development of this century-long struggle. There has been a Northern Ossetia, still belonging to Russia, and a Southern Ossetia, still belonging to Georgia. Many people are perceiving this crisis to be a series of intrigues, manipulations and conflicts between Russian and Georgia. Fundamentally, however, the Ossetians themselves have been driving events under the surface of our own observations. We are talking too much about Russian and Georgian petroleum pipelines and not enough about the movement of Ossetian ethnic communications, activities, relationships and aspirations between their divided nationality.