Georgia is well on its way to political stability, growth, and freedom, according to its president, Mikhail Saakashvili, who delivered a major address at AEI on July 6. In his only public speech during his visit to meet with President George W. Bush, President Saakashvili discussed the economic growth, political liberties, and strategic position of Georgia in recent years.
President Saakashvili was elected in 2004 in what is now known as the Rose Revolution. At that time, he told the capacity audience at AEI, “Georgia was what amounted to a failed state.” The public sector was bankrupt and corrupt, police were ineffective, and citizens were generally cynical about their government and institutions and pessimistic about the future of their country.
The democratic change which brought the current government to power has reversed Georgia’s economic and social malaise, President Saakashvili said. He pointed to positive changes since 2004: an end to widespread government corruption, an increase in respect for the police, and the development of the necessary infrastructure to stimulate what he called “the emergence of a new class of entrepreneurs.” He credited private enterprise for the success of the Georgian republic. Georgia is now attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign investment. New sectors of the economy are emerging. Construction is increasing; more airports, roads, hospitals, and schools are being built today than were built in Georgia in the last twenty-five years.
A new civic ethos is also taking root in Georgia. As an example, President Saakashvili pointed to the recent election of local school boards: “In the Soviet system, nobody asked people what type of education system they wanted.” But today, as parents and communities take charge of their children’s education, a culture of self-reliance, independence, and freedom is emerging. Reflecting on the success of those local school board elections, President Saakashvili said, “This is real change!”
President Saakashvili concluded his remarks with a discussion of Georgia’s place in the international security system: “Georgia is not only a small country in the Black Sea region. It’s larger than that, fortunately or unfortunately.” Georgia sits at a geopolitical crossroads between the Middle East, Europe, and Russia. But even more importantly, he said, Georgia is a key player in a new emerging energy system that will provide Europe with an alternative supply of oil and gas in the case of shortages or disruptions in the Persian Gulf. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the world’s second longest, passes through Georgia and connects western markets to the oil-rich Caspian Sea basin. Pipeline extensions will soon connect Georgia to Turkmenistan’s large reserves.
If Georgia were to fail, according to President Saakashvili, bottlenecks in energy flows could result, leading to a monopoly with few alternative energy supplies. If Georgia continues to succeed, essential corridors of energy infrastructure would protect Europe from disruptions in the Middle East. Georgia holds a crucial position in securing stability in Europe and the West. Therefore, President Saakashvili concluded, the future of a secure, strong, and free Georgia depends upon the continued progress of the Rose Revolution reforms.
In a subsequent question-and-answer period, President Saakashvili addressed a number of issues, including Georgian-Russian relations and Georgia’s accession to NATO. He was impressed by Russian president Vladimir Putin’s participation in a memorial to the victims of the Soviet Union’s repression of the “Prague Spring” freedom movement in 1968, and urged Russia to similarly acknowledge the Soviet oppression of Georgia. On NATO, he expressed his appreciation for President Bush’s support of Georgia’s potential accession. “This,” he said, “keeps the promise of prosperity and security to everybody.”
