From “Countering” To “Constructing” Russian Threats in Mikheil Saakashvili’s Georgia
https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2022-13-2-59-78
Abstract
This paper looks at the securitization process that took place during M. Saakashvili’s time as President of Georgia. It argues that, in order to overshadow political misdeeds and non-democratic state-policy as a whole, M. Saakashvili and his political allies used “constructed” Russian threats to discredit and marginalize opponents. Furthermore, M Saakashvili’s regime tended to restrict freedom of speech, civil liberties and other democratic rights by referring to non-existent constructed threats from the Moscow. Through security dimension, Russia poses a menace to Georgia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and Western aspirations. But at the time of M. Saakashvili’s presidency it has been turned into a political tool to be used against opponents. This paper off ers a scholarly debate on the issue. Finally, it gives a case-by-case analysis of the most crucial happenings that explain “how” and “why” Russia has been securitized.
About the Author
A. T. Sikharulidze
Georgian Institute of Public Aff airs (GIPA)
Georgia
Competing Interests:
Georgia
Archil T. Sikharulidze, PhD candidate in Social Sciences, lecturer at the Department of Social Sciences
21 Pekini Street, entrance 3, fl oor 5, apartment 120, P.O. 0194, Tbilisi
Competing Interests:
No potential confl ict of interest was reported by the author.
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Review
For citations:
Sikharulidze A.T. From “Countering” To “Constructing” Russian Threats in Mikheil Saakashvili’s Georgia. Journal of International Analytics. 2022;13(2):59-78. https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2022-13-2-59-78
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