Treaty on Open Skies: Could International Observation Flights be Canceled?

Mariam Grigalashvili The Treaty on Open Skies (OS) has been a source of tension between Russia and Georgia since 2010. While the issue is serious, the Treaty on Open Skies and the problems related to it are rarely publicly discussed since the agreement is confidential and very technical. It is worth...
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GIP commentary: The Treaty on Open Skies and the Causes of Russian-Georgian Confrontation

Mariam Grigalashvili What is the treaty on Open Skies? Access to neighboring states’ military intelligence data is an important element in international politics. In 1955, in order to obtain such information legally, the treaty on Open Skies was proposed. The aim of Open Skies, which was initiated...
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Challenges for Georgia’s Visa Liberalization: Political Context and Statistics

Mariam Grigalashvili Mikheil Sarjveladze One year after the EU’s visa-free travel for Georgia went into force, visa liberalisation remains a hot topic in the country and abroad. The main challenge related to visa-free travel is the threat that the EU could suspend this regime, a possibility ...
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Mitigating Russia’s Borderization of Georgia: A Strategy to Contain and Engage

Kornely Kakachia, Levan Kakhishvili, Joseph Larsen, Mariam Grigalashvili Russia’s use of military, political, and informational tactics to manipulate unresolved conflicts is a dynamic process. One novel warfare tactic Russia has employed since 2009 is the “borderization” of Georgia’s territo...
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Interview with Ambassador – H.E. Kai Kaarelson

Mariam Grigalashvili’s interview with the Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to Georgia and Armenia – H.E. Kai Kaarelson “The EU money and help is there, it just has to be used better for the real transformation. The better the results, the more help will become available.”...
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GIP Commentary: Syria’s Diplomatic Overture to Abkhazia

Mariam Grigalashvili On September 27, a Syrian delegation paid a so-called “official” visit to Russian-occupied Abkhazia. The visit was preceded by a visit to Damascus by the de-facto authorities of Abkhazia. High-level officials attended both meetings. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia...
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GIP Commentary: The U.S. Military Budget and Georgia

Joseph Larsen and Mariam Grigalashvili* Background On September 18, 2017, the U.S. Senate passed a military budget for 2018. Formally titled the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018”, the Act needs to be reconciled with the House of Representatives before it can be signed int...
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What Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine Want From the Brussels Summit

Mariam Grigalashvili Originally published in DELF The Lithuania Tribune The European Union will hold the fifth Summit of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in Brussels on November 24. There, the leaders of EU member states will meet with counterparts from Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia an...
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GIP Commentary: What Georgia Can Learn from Montenegro’s NATO Accession

Joseph Larsen and Mariam Grigalashvili Montenegro became the newest member of NATO on June 5. It is the seventh enlargement in the history of the Alliance and the first since April 2009, when Albania and Croatia became full members. For Montenegro, the result has been a long time coming:...
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GIP Commentary: Georgia’s Image Tarnished by Relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan

Mariam Grigalashvili and Joseph Larsen* In international relations, image matters. This is especially true for small states such as Georgia. The country’s image has suffered since Afgan Mukhtarli, an Azerbaijani investigative journalist who moved to Georgia in 2015, went missing from Tbilisi on Ma...
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