This is a very open question, as the EU has proposed granting Candidate status to Georgia. This symbolic act has taken the wind out of the sails of the opposition parties, especially the United National Movement (UNM) who were hoping that the EU would turn down the Caucasian nation’s application due to a list of sins, especially the accusation of the current government having close and cozy relations with Russia…

One of the first things you learn when you go outside into the world as a specialist of International Development, especially if you are from the US, is that the proposed changes to be made by the recipients of US “assistance” are “Not for the Good,” and USAID* has little or nothing to do with “Good Change”, as development is defined by the experts (Robert Chambers) and most developmental agencies are Really up to No Good!  The case study of Georgia since the collapse…

All in all, 2023 will not go down as a good year for Armenia. Those who can immigrate to the US or Europe will leave any way possible. I have met a few here already, and they were smart to get out early. Now the short-term emphasis from the West, besides finger pointing and trying to frame Russia for the mess,  will be on the provision of humanitarian assistance for those relocating from Nagorno-Karabakh in the face of the threat of massive ethnic cleansing…

The old adage of you can’t have your cake and eat it too has special meaning for Armenians worldwide. The world is just too distracted with more important things, like Ukraine, and like throughout history, Armenians are cast off and presented as being their own worst enemies. However, that is far from the truth in today’s geopolitical realities. The Western Headlines of Azerbaijan’s latest battlefield gains are timed for the greatest clickbait effect, and can be most revealing for the game being played. Shockingly Quick Defeat…

The West is realizing that Ukraine is lost and that they need to be able to pull a white rabbit out of the proverbial hat, or to shift direction and fix the blame. Basically, this means to be able to claim some success from the ruins, which may be “We lost Ukraine, but we saved Georgia from the Russians.” This may help explain some recent headlines in the Georgians media: “A coup à la Euromaidan is being prepared in Georgia” – Security Services Claim. There are also suggested links, or too many coincidences, between…

Washington’s role and pressing concern over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh (NK), the ethnic Armenian enclave insider the border of Azerbaijan proper, are now minimal at first impression. The same can be said for other countries, organizations and prestigious international organizations and their interests in the region. However, there are still many active points of contention in Armenian-Azeri relations, including proverbially, as well as literally, unexploded landmines, which have far-reaching foreign policy implications. Yet, the world presently appears to be turning a blind eye to these issues…

Reading the latest news by UN, NED (is banned in Russia) funded Georgian media sites, and the international news, or MSM, about the current medical status of Saakashvili, not to mention his political predicament, is comparable to a Red Cross report describing the harsh and brutal conditions in Nazi Concentration Camps. However, those in Georgia, even those in diplomatic circles, know that most of what is being reported is self-inflicted and manufactured, and therefore utterly false. The Western media write as if they are clueless of the history of Saakashvili, as if he is without sin and simply an innocent political victim…

May 19, Tbilisi, Georgia – It is only starting now that the wheels are down and the first plane from Russia full of passengers landed with the possibility of better and ever-improving relations between Georgia and the Russian Federation. The first step after many years started with visa-free travel and direct flights. However, as an eyewitness to the arrival of the fight plane from Russia last week, and the ensuring token “show of force” by the Georgian opposition, I can understand the risks involved, especially in the realm of public relations and potential EU status. As always, anything that hints…

Very seldom is something that can be so beneficial for one country attracted the wrath of so many others, as in the reaction to Russia affording Georgia visa-free status and direct flights, after so many years of travel and visa restrictions, recriminations, and name-calling. The US and the Georgian president also want to stop flights from resuming between the neighboring countries, which were suspended last year in the wake of the Ukrainian civil war, Russia’s special operation…

So, the EU does not want Georgia now that it refuses to die for Ukraine or open a second front against Russia. It does not want to “Cut off its nose to spite its face”. Georgia’s EU candidacy status has been a carrot dangling from a stick in front of a donkey for many years, and has brought about some good results; however, a Georgian donkey is stubborn, and for good reason. It is so easy to frame everything into simple choices, especially when perceived by outsiders and the naïve…

Spring is finally here, and it has been a very mild winter for Europe.  However, the month of March can be very unpredictable, and not only in terms of the weather. The National Endowment for Democracy, NED, CIA, is hard at work in Moldova and Georgia, and coming soon to Turkey, if it doesn’t just let it be and let nature run its course…

What is now attracting all the media hype these days in Georgia is a proposed law most people should care less about, at least at first impression? However, when you dive deeper into the murky waters you realise much more is involved than meets the eye. The ones complaining about it the most are the exact same ones…