EDITORIAL: “Europe stands up to Russia: The European Union has wobbled woefully, yet Russia too will pay dearly for its Georgian adventure,” The Economist, 6 September 2008.

BRIEFING: “Cold comfort: The European Union unites in rather mild and belated criticism of Russia’s war in Georgia,” The Economist, 6 September 2008.

Very sensible editorial. Detailing Russia’s financial losses and stating that:

… the most useful cure for the Eurowobbles over Russia lies not in diplomacy but in Europe’s internal market: liberalizing the EU’s energy markets and where possible connecting up its internal supply lines. It makes economic sense and does not involve picking a needless fight with Russia.

The key ending:

But what Russia may come to regret losing most is something Mr Putin longs for: the opportunity to become an accepted European power. He likes to skip over communism’s mistakes and dwell on Russia’s tsarist grandeur. But what did for both was imperial overstretch, a rotten economy and, like Russia’s today, a mostly unaccountable ruling caste that led a proud country to disaster.

The majority European position is clear enough:

They blame Georgia, seen as an irresponsible American protégé, for starting the war but object to Russia’s precipitate diplomatic recognition of Georgia’s two breakaway territories, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and the lingering Russian military presence in buffer zones. Above all, they are glad that a row with an important trading partner has cooled.

The key international response, though, has been the cool reactions from traditional friends, all of whom worry about the separatism precedent created, especially China, which created the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to combat this specific danger more than anything else.

Calm, reasonable stuff from a calm reasonable source.