Georgia: In Quest of a Niche Strategy

Abstract

It was about a decade ago that Georgia began receiving international media coverage with some regularity. It was a time of historical change, when the Soviet Union began giving caesarean birth to new states, eventually itself dying in childbirth. As Georgia’s confinement was most difficult, the news items featuring its post-natal pains were especially depressing. Indeed, two inflamed ethnic conflicts and a bitter confrontation within Georgian society puzzled international audiences as to whether Georgia would pull through. Luckily, Georgia has survived the most dramatic times in its recent history, but it was an extremely complex geopolitical environment and historical legacy that had provoked inexperienced parvenu politicians of the early 1990s to make a series of costly mistakes, the results of which Georgia is still feeling. Ten years later, policy analysts and media commentators are still puzzled. Georgia still has a long way to go until it irreversibly secures peace and stability and evolves into a viable and prosperous state. For the moment, the most difficult question is whether Georgia has the vision and resources to attain this goal. It is an appropriate moment to take stock.