On 17 December 2003 Prof. Alexander Rondeli and Ambassador Konstantin Zhgenti gave a talk on "Georgia after the Revolution."
Professor Alexander Rondeli, President of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies and Ambassador Konstantin Zhgenti, special envoy of the Foreign Ministry covering regional security issues in the South Caucasus, each gave a 20 minute talk, followed by a 40 minute question and answer session.
The recent change of government in the Republic of Georgia represents a major development not only for this South Caucasus country, but also for the whole of Europe and post-Soviet Eurasia. A new generation of political leaders came to power in Georgia as a result of a popular bloodless uprising to replace President Shvardnadze. The new leadership has committed themselves to more radical economic and political reforms and to the integration with the Europeans and Euro-Atlantic institutions. At the same time the new Georgian leadership is facing many challenges in terms of economic crisis, weak government and deteriorating relations with separatist regions. Moreover, the situation is further destabilized by the involvement of external powers. Russia has been applying pressure on the independent Georgia by supporting separatist regimes and by seeking to preserve its military bases on the Georgian territory. United States have declared Georgia an area of its strategic interests and is expanding both political and military ties with the new government. The EU is reassessing its strategy towards the South Caucasus in general and Georgia in particular focusing on economic development and government reforms. The two speakers presented their assessment of the implications of recent developments on Georgian’s domestic, foreign and security policies.
The meeting was chaired by Oksana Antonenko, IISS Senior Fellow.
