Georgian Foreign Policy in the context of the War in Ukraine: a lecture by Victor Kipiani

46 Views
Published
It has now been a whole year since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
Georgia is geographically one of the closest countries to the conflict, to which tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees have fled, as well as hundreds of thousands of Russian emigrees have arrived. Georgia’s relations with Russia are complicated, among the reasons for which are that the war between both countries ended less than 15 years ago, as well as Georgia’s efforts to join the EU and NATO. This is a lecture about Georgian foreign policy in the context of the war by Victor Kipiani.

Victor Kipiani is the Chair of the Georgian think-tank Geocase. He is an expert in the fields of international relations, security, governance, macroeconomics, as well as the impact of the global order on Georgia and its neighboring states. He regularly publishes articles on these topics in both English and Georgian language media outlets. He is also a frequent commentator on recent political developments in Georgia as well as on various global geopolitical trends and events; delivers speeches and holds presentations at local and international events.

00:00 Introducing the speaker
01:42 Opening statement by Victor Kipiani
03:13 Is Georgia’s foreign policy anti-Western and pro-Russian?
04:13 What geopolitical challenges does Georgia face? How do they constrain its foreign policy?
07:27 The two main pillars of Georgian foreign policy
07:48 Georgian integration into the EU
12:30 EU-funded projects in Georgia
15:32 Georgian integration into NATO
20:52 The Caucasus region, regional initiatives
22:45 The Georgian Constitution contains points about striving towards European & Euro-Atlantic integration
24:10 The vacuum of information about Georgian foreign policy in the west
25:55 Summary on the current geopolitical situation
28:27 Georgia’s vision regarding the Caucasus region
37:46 Could Georgia have been snubbed of EU candidate status because of its geography? Are the cases of Georgia and Morocco comparable?
40:35 Is there currently a window of opportunity for Georgia to stand up to and/or retaliate against Russia?
47:48 How have people in Georgia’s occupied territories reacted to the war in Ukraine?
53:08 How should Georgia handle the integration of Russian citizens that have emigrated there?
58:12 Comments on the answers given & conclusion
Category
Moldova
Commenting disabled.