When the Roses wilt
Dispensing with the past Georgia is on the road to recovery
Imagine you are airdropped into a country that was at war just 5 years ago, a country that has seen 1 million plus emigrate in the past decade — in fact a country where 24 year olds have experienced 3 wars within their lifetimes. That place is Georgia. I have been airdropped.
One of the weaknesses of the western media is the almost all-consuming narcissism with which it now operates; we are so self interested that we fail to take interest in the world around us. So caught up in non-events and distractions our media fails to inform us of developments across the English channel unless it involves a Brit, apply this broadly for the modern medias of most Western democracies and it’s hardly surprising that there is very little current reporting about Georgia — it just doesn’t fit in with the celebrity driven commercial agenda. As a result it was with a critical lack of information I landed in Georgia to work this week, ready to take a fast-track course where I set the syllabus in trying to get under the skin of this country set between the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains.
Of key importance in looking at Georgia is to dig behind the stories that were lazily last told (if at all) by the western media about the 2008 conflict in Abkhazia and the political aftermath of the so-called “Rose Revolution” in 2003. Without doubt these events have massively influenced the development of the country in transitioning towards a free market economy and democracy, slowing things down and hindering progress across all fields. I often refer to western governments and the state as kleptocracies given their propensity to steal funds from citizens and misappropriate the funds on grand schemes to benefit their friends and sponsors. Georgia had a far more brutal version of kleptocracy following the Rose Revolution. Many large companies were visited and asked to provide majority shareholdings to the visitors. Most obliged. These dark moves were reported on by independent journalists within the country, some of whom paid the ultimate price for their honest reporting. As the roses wilt there is good news regarding the rule of law, which is without doubt the basis for any modern democracy, major wrongdoers have been reprimanded in jail to answer for their crimes sending a powerful message to anyone considering making similar moves in future. The maintaining of this judicial strength will give investors confidence to do business in this vibrant country made up of polite and intelligent citizens all hopeful of working towards a better future for their families and country.
Georgia truly is a testament to the stoicism of its people, with the change of administration in October it is widely expected that a new atmosphere will develop, much as we have seen happen in Poland following the reactionary swing to the Law & Justice and Civic Platform parties that were formed as a reaction to the perceived dissatisfaction with previous administrations. There are a great many Georgians, most of them young and well-educated, that would have the option to leave - tellingly they are opting to stay in Georgia and take part in a new cycle of development for this proud nation.
As any keen gardeners will tell you, when the roses have wilted a careful trim will bring new shoots to flourish next season, we can be hopeful of an economic, social and political blossoming over the coming years if the gardening is well managed and the plants are allowed to grow out of the shade of larger neighbours.
