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The war between Russia and Georgia caught most of the world by surprise but it is a conflict that has long been brewing – and one that is part of a larger drama. The bigger context is Russia's move to regain the influence it enjoyed during the Cold War years and American efforts to build energy and security alliances in Russia's backyard. Reports of the events by Russian media and the western press differ greatly. What is really happening in the Caucasus and what does it all mean?
Jon Sawyer is founder and executive director of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-profit organization that funds independent reporting with the intent of raising the standard of media coverage of global affairs. The center works with media outlets across the country to improve coverage of emergent crises that would otherwise go under-reported. Three Pulitzer-funded journalists were in Georgia at the time war broke out, reporting for NewsHour, HDNet and other outlets.
Sawyer has reported from over five dozen countries. His work has been honored by the Overseas Press Club, the Inter-American Press Association and the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is a three-time winner of the National Press Club's award for best foreign correspondence. Sawyer received a B.A. degree from Yale University and has held fellowships at Princeton and Harvard. In 2006 he reported from South Ossetia and Georgia, contending in an article for Foreign Policy online that U.S. support for the Georgian government was fueling a march toward war. |
