Like its small neighbor Armenia, Georgia is an ancient land, long Christian, that has weathered the rule empires for over 800 years. First it was the Mongols, then the Persians, then the Turks, then the Russians, and finally the Soviets. Georgia’s faith withstood the fall of the Byzantine Empire. It withstood the Mongols, it persevered under the Turks, and it survived under the godless communists. The west needs to reconnect with its eastern brothers. We in a sense, all share a Judeo-Christian, Greco-Roman heritage.
Georgia, since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has had a rough transition to freedom. Then again, with no recent tradition to fall back on, a fractious political atmosphere is to be expected.
From the CIA Factbook:
The region of present-day Georgia contained the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Kartli-Iberia. The area came under Roman influence in the first centuries A.D. and Christianity became the state religion in the 330s. Domination by Persians, Arabs, and Turks was followed by a Georgian golden age (11th-13th centuries) that was cut short by the Mongol invasion of 1236. Subsequently, the Ottoman and Persian empires competed for influence in the region. Georgia was absorbed into the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Independent for three years (1918-1921) following the Russian revolution, it was forcibly incorporated into the USSR until the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. An attempt by the incumbent Georgian government to manipulate national legislative elections in November 2003 touched off widespread protests that led to the resignation of Eduard SHEVARDNADZE, president since 1995. New elections in early 2004 swept Mikheil SAAKASHVILI into power along with his National Movement party. Progress on market reforms and democratization has been made in the years since independence, but this progress has been complicated by two civil conflicts in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. These two territories remain outside the control of the central government and are ruled by de facto, unrecognized governments, supported by Russia. Russian-led peacekeeping operations continue in both regions. The Georgian Government put forward a new peace initiative for the peaceful resolution of the status of South Ossetia in 2005.
What brings this up? Important elections are nearing which will determine a number of things for Georgia, including its political and economic future, and its inclusion in NATO.
The pro-Western president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, was leading in the polls ahead of an election on Saturday that he hoped would restore his mandate to govern after he ordered a police crackdown on protesters and declared a state of emergency here in November.
The dispersal of demonstrators on Nov. 7, in which more than 500 people were injured, though none fatally, was hardly unusual in post-Soviet politics. But it disillusioned at least some supporters of Mr. Saakashvili, whom the Bush administration has championed as a model of democratic leadership in the region.
Mr. Saakashvili, 40, a graduate of Columbia University Law School in New York and a staunch ally of the United States in the Caucasus region, was unapologetic about the police crackdown in an interview at his residence on Friday.
He said his decision to call Saturday’s snap elections set his government apart from others in the region, and had already deflated criticism of his government after the events of November.
“All these claims that Georgia went authoritarian collapsed after the so-called authoritarian leader called for elections,” Mr. Saakashvili said. Read more….
Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Rosemary’s Thoughts, third world county, Right Truth, , The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, The Amboy Times, Cao’s Blog, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
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