The war between Georgia and Russia was, inevitably, a brief and one-sided affair. Russian troops, backed by an aerial bombardment campaign, poured across the border into the disputed territory of South Ossetia last month, responding to what Moscow claimed was an incursion by Georgian forces. The Russians routed the army of its tiny neighbor, population 4.6 million, and then pushed into Georgia proper before the two sides agreed on a ceasefire. The fighting, which evoked memories of the Soviet invasions of Hungary and Czechoslovakia during the cold war, unsettled world markets and raised fears of an era of renewed tensions between Moscow and the West.Georgia responded the only way it could. President Mikheil Saakashvili took to the airwaves and appealed to the world community for help while his prime minister, Vladimer (Lado) Gurgenidze, sought to marshal financial support. Gurgenidze spent the first day of the Russian offensive working the telephones...