I was dumbfounded to learn recently that Georgia is negotiating with Gazprom to bring more Russian gas to Georgia. The reason I was stupefied is that the entire world knows that Russia uses oil and gas as a sledgehammer to pound other countries into acceding to its will. In fact, Georgia has already experienced Russian gas blackmail.

In 2006, Gazprom threatened to cut off gas to Georgia unless it received much higher prices. It did the same with Ukraine and Belarus.Georgia, which has a highly reformed but struggling economy, balked at complying with the demands.