Because older Georgian politicians are mostly corrupt ex-Communist mediocrities, Georgia, since the "Rose Revolution," has had one of the youngest sets of political leaders in the world.

It's important to realize that they aren't some random grab bag of provincial hotheads. Instead, they are the cream of Georgia's new generation of globalized elite, almost all educated abroad and plugged into the most influential global networks of finance, law, media, trade, and NGOs. Thus, they've enjoyed tremendous press coverage from similar folks in the prestige media.

These are the kind of people who will be running the world for the next generation, making Georgia a harbinger of what's in store for all of us.

And what did these exemplars of the globalized Best and Brightest do when they got power?

They started a tank war with Russia.

* By the way, judging from how fast Russia struck back, I would guess that Russia has plenty of spies within Georgia. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if one of those Georgian B&Bs was privately supplementing his official pay as Putin's personal agent provocateur within the Georgian government:

Hey, guys, let's go invade that Russian-occupied territory with our tanks! C'mon, what's the worst that could happen?

Perhaps that sounds excessively paranoid and convoluted, but, after all as they say in those parts (or at least should say):

"Forget it, Jake, it's Caucasustown."

For a profile of perhaps the most brilliant of all the dangerous operators who have emerged from that part of the world, see here.