News Corp, the global media empire headed by Rupert Murdoch, usually does its political homework before investing in a new market. But its recent intervention in Georgia, the former Soviet republic caught in the crossfire between a resurgent Russia and the west, looks like getting the group involved in a Caucasian hornets’ nest.

Smouldering Russian-Georgian tensions blew up again this week when Russian peacekeepers arrested four Georgian policemen on the borders of Abkhazia, the secessionist territory. Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian president, immediately flew to the area to confront the Russians in person.