Publications

Kornely Kakachia, Katrin Böttger,
Bidzina Lebanidze, Viktoria Palm, Mikheil Sarjveladze
Policy Paper, July 2019
Georgian Institute of Politics / Institut für Europäische Politik

Ekaterine Basilaia, Filip Pazderski,
Dr. Petra Kuchyňková, Jan Cingel

This report was commissioned in view of the deepening political polarization, rising populism, growing Euroscepticism and anti-Western movements as well as concerns over fake news, disinformation and propaganda in the media in the countries where the research was carried out.

Dr. Alessandro Nai^[1]

The report by an international monitoring commission for the 2018 Presidential election in Georgia concluded that the November runoff “was marred by harsh rhetoric”, and that “the negative character of the campaign on both sides undermined the process.”[2]

Expert Comment

Following the introduction of the EU’s visa free regime with Georgia, certain EU member states have expressed their concerns that Georgian citizens are misusing it. France, Austria, Germany and Sweden in particular have reported an increased number of violations (a higher number of unfounded asylum applications) since Georgia received visa-free status.

SpringerVS published a new book by GIP Senior Policy Analyst – Bidzina Lebanidze – “Russia, EU and the Post-Soviet Democratic Failure”. This publication is a part of the Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft book series (VGPO)

By studying the influence of the two main external actors in post-Soviet space, the EU and Russia,  this study contributes to the increasing body of literature that studies the causes of democratic recession and authoritarian backlash in post-Soviet states and the role of regional actors in these processes.

Tamta Gelashvili[1]

Over the past several years, right-wing extremists have begun to proliferate in Georgia and their visibility has noticeably increased. More recently, far right groups even announced plans to form a joint party, the National Front, which will “take part in absolutely all political processes.”[2] This policy brief discusses whether there are favorable political opportunities for right-wing extremist actors in Georgia to mobilize.

Expert Polls # 9, Georgian Institute of Politics, April 2019.

The ninth expert poll conducted by the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP) explored the increasing trends of populism and polarization in Georgia. The GIP asked 34 renowned Georgian and foreign experts and scholars about the degree of populism and polarization in Georgian political parties and media outlets.

Expert Comment

In 2011, Russia and Georgia signed an agreement on the Basic Principles for a Mechanism of Customs Administration and Monitoring of Trade in Goods. The agreement facilitated Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization. Based on the agreement, Georgia and Russia, in 2017 and 2018 respectively, signed separate contracts with a neutral private company (SGS). The contracts established the groundwork for the practical implementation of the agreement.

Salome Minesashvili, Levan Kakhishvili,
Bidzina Lebanidze, Nino Robakidze

The four policy briefs in the publication introduce policy recommendations to tackle the trust crisis, polarization, and populism in Georgia. In particular, the publication focuses on the effect the decreasing level of trust in political parties has on democratization in Georgia and the effect rising nationalist populism has on Georgia’s European integration.

Dr. Fernando Casal Bértoa^[1]

A specter is haunting Europe, the specter of polarization. In the last decade vote for anti-political-establishment parties, being them populist, radical and/or extreme has exponentially increased. And with it the distance between political parties and the irreconcilable differences (either ideological, personalistic or both) among voters.

Nino Robakidze[1]

Traditional liberal democratic states across the world are concerned about the issue of political polarization. At the same time, the media, one of the major democratic institute, is also facing new challenges. Trust of towards traditional media, particularly for some specific social groups, is defined more by the media outlet’s political sympathies or ideological perspective than by professionalism and objective reporting.

Levan Kakhishvili
Originally posted by Minsk Dialogue

Survival is often argued to be the major concern of small states’ international relations. Georgia is no exception – since it gained independence in the early 1990s, Georgia has had a turbulent history. It has experienced four military conflicts: two wars in the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and a civil war in Tbilisi during the early 1990s, and later a brief war with Russia in August 2008.