Even in linguistics and nomenclature, Tbilisi is keen to embrace Western ways, it seems. The Georgian government on June 27 told the world to quit using the Russian name for Georgia, "Gruzia," and to switch to the international, English-language version, "Georgia."

Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze told reporters on June 27 that it is "of special importance" to Georgia to be called Georgia. She claimed that South Korea, which uses "Gruzia" in Korean, already agreed to make the switch.

But this could prove an uphill task. In fact, Georgia goes by many names around the world: "Georgia" in English, "Gurjistan" in Turkish, "Gruzia" in Russian, "Vrastan" in Armenian.

There's also the problem of ongoing confusion between Georgia and the southern US state of the same name.

Somehow lost in all this jumble is what Georgians themselves call their country -- "Sakartvelo," meaning, literally, "a place for kartvelians (Georgians)." But that's another story.