Georgia

Georgia

In 2014, Russia-backed forces took control of the Crimean peninsula causing international uproar and sanctions to be placed on Russia. But it wasn’t the first time that Russia had seized neighborhood territory. Six years before the annexation of Crimea, Russia crept into Georgia, occupying 20 percent of the country to this day. Data tells us that Georgians want to lean to the West. But, how are they supposed to do that with the Kremlin on their back?

In 2008, Senator John McCain spoke to a crowd following the news of Russia’s invasion of Georgia and said,  “Some Americans, when they read this news, may wonder where Georgia is or why we should care about the conflict between Georgians and the Russian army. It’s, after all, a small, remote, and obscure place. But history is often made in remote, obscure places… Today we are all Georgians.”

Guests

On this episode of Global, we speak to: 

Guest

Damon Wilson

Executive Vice President, of the Atlantic Council. Damon served as Senior Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council during Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008.

Guest

Eka Gigauri

Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia, one the leading government watchdogs in the country. 

Guest

Jamie Kirchick

Foreign Correspondent, Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and author of “The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age“

Guest

John DiPirro

IRI’s Georgia Program Director based in Tbilisi