Commentary
Montenegro and Albania are frontrunners for EU enlargement in the Western Balkans, but they can’t just sit back and wait. To meet their 2030 accession ambitions, they must make a strong positive case.
Dimitar Bechev, Iliriana Gjoni
{
"authors": [],
"type": "pressRelease",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "russia",
"programs": [
"Russia and Eurasia"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"Caucasus",
"Georgia"
],
"topics": [
"Foreign Policy"
]
}
REQUIRED IMAGE
Press Release
Charting a future for Georgia in uncertain times
Georgia is entering a period of political transition and will have a new constitution after parliamentary and presidential elections in 2012 and 2013. While the current government has made progress in building a functioning state, the country’s economic situation is increasingly uncertain.
Published on Jun 13, 2011
WASHINGTON—Georgia is entering a period of political transition and will have a new constitution after parliamentary and presidential elections in 2012 and 2013. While the current government has made progress in building a functioning state, the country’s economic situation is increasingly uncertain.
In a new report, Thomas de Waal examines the challenges facing Georgia and argues that the government must start building institutions and choose a long-term development model after years of governing in an informal and improvisational way. The governing elite has no serious domestic political opposition and risks turning Georgia into a one-party state.
Models for Georgia’s Future:
- The “old Georgia” model: This conservative option representing the country’s traditional value system and way of doing business offers little as an economic or political model.
- The “Singapore” model: Opening Georgia to worldwide investment enjoys support, especially from an influential libertarian group seeking greater deregulation. But with foreign investment falling, this model does little to solve problems like rural poverty and high unemployment
- The EU model: A comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Union would offer privileged access to the EU single market in return for institutional reform. Although a painful process, this is Georgia’s best hope for long-term development.
“Georgia now faces real dilemmas whose resolution will determine how the country develops,” de Waal writes. “Greater integration with the EU will not deliver an economic miracle to Georgia, but having a European anchor would ensure greater political stability for Georgia, which in turn would benefit the economy.”
NOTES
Click here to read the full report
Thomas de Waal is a senior associate in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment, specializing primarily in the South Caucasus region comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia and their breakaway territories, as well as the wider Black Sea region.
The Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Program has, since the end of the Cold War, led the field on Eurasian security, including strategic nuclear weapons and nonproliferation, development, economic and social issues, governance, and the rule of law.
Press Contact: Karly Schledwitz, +1 202 939 2233, pressoffice@ceip.org
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- How to Join the EU in Three Easy Steps
- Leveraging Internal Security Cooperation with Vietnam Offers a Glimpse of Future Chinese Diplomacy with Southeast AsiaArticle
Despite long-standing differences, China and Vietnam are reinforcing common ground for collaboration, especially in public security. This internal security–centered diplomacy offers a strengthened road map for how China moves forward with Southeast Asia.
Sophie Zhuang
- One Year After the Great Aid Recession, Investments in Climate Mobility Offer Cost-Effective ReturnsCommentary
Climate mobility interventions can vary, but they all present opportunities to unlock transformative results that mitigate costs associated with inaction.
Alejandro Martin Rodriguez
- The Myriad Problems With the Iran CeasefireCommentary
Four Middle East experts analyze the region’s reactions and next steps.
- +1
Amr Hamzawy, Andrew Leber, Eric Lob, …
- The Iran War’s Global ReachCollection
As the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran continues, Carnegie scholars contribute cutting-edge analysis on the events of the war and their wide-reaching implications. From the impact on Iran and its immediate neighbors to the responses from Gulf states to fuel and fertilizer shortages caused by the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, the war is reshaping Middle East alliances and creating shockwaves around the world. Carnegie experts analyze it all.
