Tracking-Georgia

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Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, two unresolved conflicts, in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, have undermined stability in Georgia. Both entities seek independence, while internationally they are still recognised as part of Georgia. Since becoming president in May 2004, Mikheil Saakashvili has made restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity his main priority. While he has promoted various peace plans, he has not done enough to build confidence with the Ossetians and Abkhaz, lift their isolation and help them gain a sense of security.
Georgia is engaged in large-scale reform of inefficient post-Soviet institutions and trying to stimulate a deeply dysfunctional economy. The country managed a peaceful, if dramatic, transfer of power in the Rose Revolution of November 2003, when Saakashvili ousted President Eduard Shevardnadze, a former Soviet foreign minister and Georgian leader since 1992. His subsequent electoral victory in January 2004 was widely seen as a vote for change in the Caucasian republic. He again won in 2008 but by a significantly lower margin.
While the Saakashvili administration has had significant success in rebuilding moribund institutions and implementing sweeping economic reforms, the concentration of power in the hands of a small elite, cronyism, and lack of judicial independence and media representing different points of view, remain a challenge to democratisation. Political unrest in late 2007 with a state of emergency and violent crackdown on protesters underscored the fragility of the new political leadership and revealed increasingly authoritarian tendencies within it.
Saakashvili’s administration is in conflict with its powerful Russian neighbour over South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia’s NATO membership aspirations. Georgia obtained a clear NATO membership promise at the Bucharest Summit in spring 2008, and is already part of the European Neighbourhood Program. Russia is concerned about losing control over its near abroad, especially on the border of its own volatile North Caucasus. Georgia considers that it is being bullied by a stronger neighbour and has been turning to the United States and European Union for their support. Crisis Group’s work on Georgia focuses on ways it can navigate its difficult course to stability in a geopolitically important transit region.
updated August 2008
Crisis Group Conflict Alert: Russia Must Withdraw Its Troops From Georgia, 11 August 2008
Crisis Group Conflict Alert: The Need for an Immediate End to Hostilities in South Ossetia, 8 August 2008
Our Georgia reports are listed below, starting with the most recent. You can also search for relevant reports using the search box in the top right hand side of this page.
Articles, op-eds, speeches and media releases can be found under the media section.
Click here for a more detailed history of the country/conflict.


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Recent reports & briefings
Russia vs Georgia: The Fallout, Europe Report N°195, 22 August 2008
Georgia and Russia: Clashing over Abkhazia, Europe Report N°193, 5 June 2008
Georgia: Sliding towards Authoritarianism?, Europe Report N°189, 19 December 2007
Georgia’s South Ossetia Conflict: Make Haste Slowly, Europe Report N°183, 7 June 2007
Abkhazia: Ways Forward, Europe Report N°179, 18 January 2007
Georgia’s Armenian and Azeri Minorities, Europe Report N°178, 22 November 2006
Abkhazia Today, Europe Report N°176, 15 September 2006
Georgia-South Ossetia: Refugee Return the Path to Peace, Europe Briefing N°38, 19 April 2005
Georgia: Avoiding War in South Ossetia, Europe Report N°159, 26 November 2004
Saakashvili's Ajara Success: Repeatable Elsewhere in Georgia?, Europe Briefing N°34, 18 August 2004
Georgia: What Now?, Europe Report N°151, 3 December 2003