Informality as illegality in Georgia's anti-mafia campaign
In: Caucasus survey: journal of the International Association for the Study of the Caucasus, Band 5, Heft 1, S. 51-64
ISSN: 2376-1202
In: Caucasus survey: journal of the International Association for the Study of the Caucasus, Band 5, Heft 1, S. 51-64
ISSN: 2376-1202
World Affairs Online
In: Journal of democracy, Band 27, Heft 1, S. 110-123
ISSN: 1086-3214
Abstract: This paper looks at Georgia's path to reform in 2004–2012. The author argues that the young, ideologically and structurally cohesive elite capitalized on the window of opportunity and implemented "big bang" reform in 2004–2008. As time passed, the new incumbents developed vested interests that became apparent with the reemergence of a state-business nexus reemerged in 2008–2012. During the Saakashvili administration, these interests undermined market competition, and elite networks used state power to control economic and political structures. Even though concerns over particularistic practices have remained, petty bribery has decreased substantially.
In: Europe Asia studies, Band 66, Heft 1, S. 88-107
ISSN: 1465-3427
In: Politique internationale: pi, Heft 147
ISSN: 0221-2781
An interview with Eka Zguladze, Vice-Minister of the Interior of the Ukrainian government since 2014. It's a huge challenge, she decided to take up without hesitation. At 36, Georgian Eka Zguladze was appointed Deputy Interior Minister in the new Government of Ukraine, December 17, 2014. It is part of foreign reformers called by the Chairman Petro Poroshenko to carry out its reform program and avoid collusion between politicians and the business community - and this in a country where corruption remains endemic. Among them, former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is responsible for overseeing all the reforms while American Natalie Jaresko was given the finance portfolio. Adapted from the source document.
In: Osteuropa, Band 56, Heft 10, S. 117-121
ISSN: 0030-6428
The conflict between Russia & Georgia has escalated to crisis. The public expulsion of Russian agents from Georgia provided the pretext. Russia reacted with sanctions & deportations. At the heart of the matter lie competing interests. Georgia is fighting for its territorial integrity. Russia is supporting the renegade regions of Abkhazia & South Ossetia. Georgia is drawn to NATO, which meets with displeasure in Russia. The actions of the parties to the conflict are counterproductive. Moscow's manipulations & deportations strengthen the government of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. & his aggressive rhetoric & risky policy makes the re-establishment of Georgia's territorial integrity more unlikely. With a policy of escalation both regimes are taking a bearish turn. Adapted from the source document.
The socio-political processes developed in Georgia in the 90s of the twentieth century led to the political transformation of the country. The political changes that began during this period led to the ideological and value transformation of elite structures, including procedural changes in the mechanisms of elite circulation. All this was reflected in the country's domestic and foreign policy.In Georgian reality, the main part of the society is focused on a specific political figure, however, the elite groups united around this leader differ from each other in their values and ideological orientation. At the same time, all post-Soviet political leaders followed different paths of accumulating social and political capital, which became an important component of developing their individual political charisma.The article discusses the features of 4 political leaders of post-Soviet Georgia (Z. Gamsakhurdia, E. Shevardnadze, M. Saakashvili, B. Ivanishvili) and the political processes related to them. ; The socio-political processes developed in Georgia in the 90s of the twentieth century led to the political transformation of the country. The political changes that began during this period led to the ideological and value transformation of elite structures, including procedural changes in the mechanisms of elite circulation. All this was reflected in the country's domestic and foreign policy.In Georgian reality, the main part of the society is focused on a specific political figure, however, the elite groups united around this leader differ from each other in their values and ideological orientation. At the same time, all post-Soviet political leaders followed different paths of accumulating social and political capital, which became an important component of developing their individual political charisma.The article discusses the features of 4 political leaders of post-Soviet Georgia (Z. Gamsakhurdia, E. Shevardnadze, M. Saakashvili, B. Ivanishvili) and the political processes related to them.
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В статье предпринята попытка рассмотреть понятие «иномерность» применительно к политической коммуникации. Автор обозначил основные черты, характерные для иномерных политиков. Анализ публикаций российских маас-медиа позволил выявить главные приемы, используемые журналистами при создании медиаобраза Михаила Саакашвили как иномерного политика. ; An attempt to consider concept "new politician" with reference to a political communication is undertaken in the article. The author has designated the basic points which are typical for "new format" politicians. The analysis of publications of Russian mass-media has allowed to reveal the main receptions used by journalists at creation of a media image of Michael Saakashvili as a "new format" politician.
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In: Post-soviet affairs, Band 30, Heft 5, S. 416-440
ISSN: 1060-586X
World Affairs Online
Was the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, which resulted into a dismemberment of Georgia, predictable and avoidable? Supporters and ideological allies of the current Georgian government have insisted that those who criticize the alertness and behavior of the Saakashvili administration are looking at this issue with the full benefits of hindsight. To be fair, political scientists are much better at predicting the past than the future, and if we follow this logic, the future conflicts between the two neighbors in the Caucasus should be as "unpredictable" and "unexpected' as this one. The international system behaves very much like a stochastic system, but it does exhibit certain regularities and carries certain continuity when it comes to behavior of its actors. Despite weaknesses and problems unleashed by the era of globalization, nation-states remain the main actors of the international system. Survival continues to be the main value for these actors, and the system guides the nation-states or those who act on their behalf to do their utmost to preserve this value for themselves, and stay as actors in the system. States compete, jostle, combine, and sometimes even collide in order to accumulate enough power and capabilities to provide for their survival. States collide and fight not because they have different values in the international system, but as carriers of the same set of values they come to different understandings and perspectives of how to defend these values based on their individual geopolitical circumstances. Therefore, states may develop different, and often competing interests around the same issue, which occasionally throws them into violent conflicts. Just prior to the extraordinary presidential election in Georgia on 5 January, 2008, a Georgian language daily Resonansi (The Resonance) printed my op-ed piece titled "The Issue of Division of Abkhazia, and Theories of the Ruling Party," in which, among other things I warned that "If Saakashvili manages to stay in power, and the ruling party will do everything to keep its leader in the presidential seat, the most logical solution for the Abkhaz issue would be its division with Russia. It would be more beneficial for Georgia to keep the status of the autonomous republic undecided than to settle it by dividing [the province with Russia], as with a gradual weakening of Russia, Georgia should be able to recover the lost territories. However, in the event of its legal division with Russia, it would be almost impossible to recover the lost territory." Further I anticipated the province of Abkhazia to be divided by force between Russia and Georgia, and this to happen sometime before the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics: ".The Russians will try their best to act before Georgia does, and introduce troops to Abkhazia citing a prevention of aggression by Georgia. A provocation of sorts would be enough [for them] to argue that Georgia is planning aggression, and intends to thwart the [Sochi] Olympic Games. After the deployment of the [Russian] troops [to Abkhazia], it would take decades to dislodge them from that territory." Saakashvili did win the elections in January 2008, supported in large by a shameful behavior of the OSCE delegation in the country. In June 2008, he did propose secretly to Moscow to divide Abkhazia; 2 however, as the August events demonstrated, the Russians decided not to divide, but to keep the whole pie for themselves. The August escalation around Tskhinvali served as the pretext, but Abkhazia and its geopolitical setting is the biggest prize for the Russians, with which they will not easily part.
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In: Nationalities papers: the journal of nationalism and ethnicity, Band 42, Heft 6, S. 923-941
ISSN: 1465-3923
This article sheds light on the Euro-Atlantic discourse in Georgia by situating it in a wider frame. It provides an analysis of its Euro-Atlantic orientation by presenting it as a continuation of past efforts to involve European powers in Georgian affairs and highlights changing trends in this aspect of contemporary foreign policy. Far from determining whether or not the Georgians are European, the different arguments that have been used to support Georgian "Europeanness" are evaluated to assess its role in the national identity construction process. Focusing primarily on the United National Movement government led by Mikheil Saakashvili, we demonstrate how the Euro-Atlantic discourse has been employed domestically by the political elite as a legitimacy management strategy and explore its function in seeking Western patronage, a key foreign policy goal.
В статье анализируются причины развязывания режимом Саакашвили жестокой агрессии против народа Южной Осетии. Исследована роль США и их партнеров по НАТО в развязывании конфликта и действия России по принуждению Грузии к миру. Рассмотрены противоречия, существующие в политических кругах Запада, относительно необходимости сотрудничества с Россией. ; The article analyses the reasons for unleashing by Saakashvili regime a cruel war against the people of South Osetiya. The role of the USA and their NATO partners in unleashing the conflict was studied as well as the role of Russia in forcing Georgia to peace. Contradictions that exist in the political circles of the West concerning the necessity of cooperation with Russia were considered.
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In: International affairs: a Russian journal of world politics, diplomacy and international relations, Band 50, Heft 5
ISSN: 0130-9641
The political and economic challenges facing the nation of Georgia, as well as its relationships with the US and Russia, are detailed. Attempts by Georgia's government to cultivate close relations with both the US and Russia are discussed. However, it is noted that Georgia's leaders have displeased Russia and the US. It is argued that Georgia has displeased the US by attacking rebels in the Georgian region of South Ossetia, thereby destabilizing the southern Caucasus region and an important oil pipeline. Meanwhile, Georgia has failed to resolve several issues affecting its relationship with Russia, including the problem of international terrorists using Georgia as a safe haven and the future of Russian military bases in Georgia. Attempts by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to create and solve crises in South Ossetia and the republic of Adjaria are described as unhelpful for Georgia. Saakashvili's actions towards Adjaria and South Ossetia are portrayed as threatening to US and Russian interests. It is suggested that Russia should seek to defuse the conflicts. Georgia's economy is described as deteriorating and in need of additional Russian investment.
Современные межгосударственные конфликты решаются не только силой и оружием, но интеллектом и пропагандой. Политический и медиа-дискурсы становятся горячими точками, где разворачиваются ожесточенные бои между соперниками, и все мировое сообщество вовлекается в информационную войну. В условиях информационных баталий владение техниками декодирования прагматических установок и метафор, через которые концептуализируется видение войны и ее участников, просто необходимо. Лингвистические исследования, как правило, посвящены когнитивному анализу медиа и политического дискурсов как таковых. Предлагаем рассмотреть дискурс общественности: блоги, комментарии к статьям, телевизионные опросы, письма к редактору и пр. ; Modern international conflicts are solved not only by means of force and arms, but with the help of intellect and propaganda. Political and media discourses become hot spots, where severe battles between the rivals are staged. Thus, the whole world community gets involved into the media wars. In the context of media fights, knowing how to decode pragmatic units and metaphors which conceptualize the war and its participants is a must. As a rule, linguistic researches are devoted to cognitive analysis of political and media discourses as such. I suggest considering public discourse: blogs, comments to articles, TV surveys, letters to editors, etc.
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In: Nationalities papers: the journal of nationalism and ethnicity, Band 42, Heft 6, S. 923-941
ISSN: 1465-3923
This article sheds light on the Euro-Atlantic discourse in Georgia by situating it in a wider frame. It provides an analysis of its Euro-Atlantic orientation by presenting it as a continuation of past efforts to involve European powers in Georgian affairs and highlights changing trends in this aspect of contemporary foreign policy. Far from determining whether or not the Georgians are European, the different arguments that have been used to support Georgian 'Europeanness' are evaluated to assess its role in the national identity construction process. Focusing primarily on the United National Movement government led by Mikheil Saakashvili, we demonstrate how the Euro-Atlantic discourse has been employed domestically by the political elite as a legitimacy management strategy and explore its function in seeking Western patronage, a key foreign policy goal. Adapted from the source document.
В статье анализируется проблема использования российскими СМИ некоторых политических технологий в процессе создания образа президента Грузии Михаила Саакашвили. На основе анализа материалов ведущих интернет-изданий «Lenta.ru», «Rian.ru», «Kommersant.ru» автор выявляет и анализирует такие приемы психологического воздействия на аудиторию как «осмеяние», «наклеивание ярлыков», «ссылка на авторитеты», «стереотипизация». ; The article deals with the Russian mass media trend to apply to the political technologies while making an image of Michael Saakashvili, President of Georgia. Having analyzed the materials of leading Internet editions such as «Lenta.ru», «Rian.ru», «Kommersant.ru», the author managed to identify and analyze such tools of psychological impact on the audience as "mockery", "labeling", "reference for opinion leaders", "stereotyping".
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