Georgia needs to make mutually exclusive choices and commit to playing a role in the Caucasus. Geography provided Georgia with a range of opportunities limited by size, location, and history. Tbilisi did exploit the opportunities afforded by a period of globalization and U.S. hegemony, redefining the capacity of the state. The country assumed the role … Read more
An old Georgian legend explains our country’s fate better than most diplomatic cables. When God began distributing lands to the nations, every tribe arrived on time. Only Georgians were late—not out of laziness or neglect, but because they were feasting. When they finally appeared, God asked why. They answered honestly: they had been celebrating, and … Read more
Peace in the Russia–Ukraine war does not yet seem close, but neither is it impossibly distant. It is clear that Russia will, for some time, continue its efforts to achieve its maximalist goals in this war. However, the serious difficulties now visible in Russia’s economy and financial system are steadily reducing Moscow’s ability to continue … Read more
Political scientist Paata Sheshelidze questions the government’s plan to partner with major Gulf developers on vast new real estate complexes in Tbilisi and on the Black Sea, saying the public still does not know what, exactly, the country is agreeing to. Sheshelidze, president of the New Economic School and a former politician, told Interpressnews that … Read more
Georgia’s ruling party has filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court, asking it to outlaw three of the country’s main opposition parties. If the court agrees, it could leave hundreds of thousands of Georgians without a political alternative, and end what’s left of pluralism in the country’s politics, according to Sandro Baramidze, a representative of … Read more
The country’s opposition parties are repeating strategic mistakes that have allowed the ruling Georgian Dream party to entrench its rule, according to Nino Lomjaria, executive director of the non-governmental group Georgia’s European Orbit and former public defender (ombudswoman). Outlining her criticism in a social media post on Saturday, Lomjaria said opposition groups have failed to … Read more
Georgia’s “crackdown” isn’t what the headlines suggest. International coverage of Georgia’s recent detentions reads like a Cold War thriller. Words such as “purge,” “totalitarianism,” and “crackdown” are passed around as generously as khinkali at a supra. Once again, foreign audiences are dazzled by the imagery but left in the dark about what’s actually happening, and … Read more
Europe is pouring billions into the Middle Corridor, the transcontinental trade route linking China and Europe via Central Asia and the South Caucasus, but Georgia may be letting the opportunity slip through its fingers, warns Paata Tsagareishvili, head of the Middle Corridor Research Center in Tbilisi. In an interview with Interpressnews, Tsagareishvili said the European … Read more
They come to Tbilisi, are taken on a tour, and “taken for a ride” by a conspicuous crowd of people who happen to be out of government at the moment. The latest was Finland’s Elena Valtonen, who did the rounds: dropped by the opposition demonstrators at parliament to show support, met with the usual NGO … Read more
Donor-funded media platforms in Georgia are billed as “independent.” That might play well in Brussels and Washington. But seeing this from the inside here in Tbilisi, the picture looks very different. Outlets such as JAM News and OC Media operate almost entirely on grants from foreign governments and foundations. For long, sounding the alarm about … Read more