Authoritarian would-be emperors such as Putin and Jinping and the US’s military-industrial complex erode the open society and its values of individual freedoms

The first high-level talks between Russia and Georgia since their war broke down on Wednesday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced on Tuesday that Moscow had decided to recognise two rebel regions of Georgia as independent states.

European leaders warned Russia on Sunday to withdraw its forces rapidly from Georgia or face unspecified consequences.

The risk of a new era of East-West confrontation triggered by Russia’s invasion of Georgia heightened on Friday.

Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev promises to guarantee any vote by rebel Georgian states to break with Tbilisi.

The Kremlin on Tuesday night dictated humiliating peace terms to Georgia as the price for halting the Russian invasion of the small Black Sea country.

Russian troops took the capital of the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia on Sunday after a three-day battle as Georgian forces retreated.