Georgia as a testing ground for Putin’s policy of “land return”: from the occupation of territories to the anti-European Course of the “Georgian Dream”

Abstract

In the 21st century, Russian imperialism continues its convulsive attempts to remain on the geopolitical map of the world, which is reflected in the active measures taken by Moscow towards Georgia and Ukraine. The events in Georgia and the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war have shown that Moscow has lost its military power but continues to maintain its geopolitical influence both through its presence in international organizations, primarily the UN, and through the use of a wide range of manipulative tools. Moscow’s open interference in the internal affairs of Georgia, first through mythical “peacekeeping” and after 2008 - the open occupation of part of Georgian territories - is only one aspect of Russian activity in the South Caucasus.

Having lost control over Tbilisi’s actions after the Rose Revolution of 2003 and the coming to power of M. Saakashvili, Moscow used all possible means – diplomatic, economic, military, and informational, to regain its influence in the region. It was impossible to discredit Saakashvili and his chosen course for Euro-Atlantic integration by the “active means” already traditional for Moscow, so the Kremlin chose a different tactic. Through the mechanism of creating a puppet political force, tested in the last century, Moscow joined Georgia's party and political life through the “Georgian Dream”, which turned out to be Russian.

Georgian society, democratically minded and tired of increasing manifestations of authoritarianism on the part of Saakashvili, took the first destructive step – it elected the “Georgian Dream” to parliament. The next decade is an accelerated rollback of the democratic reforms of the “United National Movement” and a turn towards Russia with a conscious transition to an anti-integration movement towards the EU on the part of official Tbilisi. Despite active protests from Georgian society, the authorities continue their reverse movement towards Russia. The world is watching the testing of the new strategy of Putin’s policy of “returning the lands”, which the author defined as “retroactive governance”.