The force of Russia’s attack against Georgia this weekend sends a strong signal that Moscow is determined not to relinquish control over the oil-rich Caspian region. Georgia has scant energy resources of its own, but hosts pipelines built by international oil majors to carry Caspian oil and gas to western markets. Its railways also transport substantial volumes of oil from the region to Black Sea ports. The east-west energy corridor across Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey established with strong political backing from the US, has eroded Russia’s stranglehold over energy exports from one of the world’s few remaining untapped oil...