This is what should probably be a must-read for every analyst (Georgian included), with every word precise and meaningful. It can and should be expanded in discussions and debates... The primary themes of political scientists, international finance experts, and politicians, have focused on: - Georgia as strategic object (oil, energy transit routes, geopolitics) - Georgia as ethnic cauldron (nationalism, secessionism) - Georgia as failed state (civil war, economic crash) - Georgia as reforming state (shock therapy, democratization) - Georgia as failing democracy (corrupt elections, presidential authoritarianism) In the provinces, where three-quarters of the Georgian population lives, largely ignored by Western experts, polls consistently place unemployment, bad roads and schools at the top of the bill. Western politicians have a Whiggish belief in the power of reform, regardless of the outcome. Despite evidence of failure, the grand design of the last twenty years remains intact: institutionalisation and the market will lead (in the end) to democratisation and social progress. Perceptions determine the problem and how we think about solutions. We would come up with different solutions if we investigated more of the realities Georgians face in their daily working lives, in places where English is not the language of communication.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 16:55:36 +0000
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