This event is online only. Register for Zoom. Watch on YouTube.
Join us for a meeting of the New York-Russia Public Policy Series, co-hosted by the Harriman Institute at Columbia University and the New York University Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia.
On October 26, Georgians will head to the polls for parliamentary elections following a year of political upheaval marked by a series of controversial new laws introduced by the ruling Georgian Dream party. Many in Georgia position this election as a choice between Europe and Russia. Join us for a panel discussion featuring esteemed experts—academics, former diplomats, journalists, and activists—who will explore the critical interplay between domestic politics and external pressures that is shaping these historic elections. How might Russian influences be affecting the political campaign? What are the potential implications of another Georgian Dream victory? How are Georgians approaching these elections, and how does the Russia-Georgia relationship factor into their decision-making?
This event is supported by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Joshua Kucera, Journalist based in Tbilisi, Georgia. He currently covers the Caucasus region — Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan — for RFE/RL and The Economist. From 2016-2022 he was the Turkey/Caucasus editor at Eurasianet. His writings on the former Soviet Union also have been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, The Atlantic, The Nation, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and many other publications.
Natalie Sabanadze, Ambassador, Senior Research Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House. Prior to this, she served as head of the Georgian mission to the EU and ambassador plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Belgium and Grand Duchy of Luxembourg since 2013. From 2005–13, she worked as a senior official at the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities in The Hague, where she held several positions including head of Central and South East Europe section and later, head of the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia section.
Giorgi Kandelaki, Project Manager of Soviet Past Research Laboratory; Member of the Georgian Parliament (2008-2020).
Julie George, Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
Moderated by:
Joshua Tucker, Director of the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia at New York University.
Elise Giuliano, Senior Lecturer in Political Science; Director of the MARS-REERS Program; Director of the Program on U.S.-Russia Relations.
Joshua Kucera is a journalist based in Tbilisi, Georgia. He currently covers the Caucasus region — Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan — for RFE/RL and The Economist. From 2016-2022 he was the Turkey/Caucasus editor at Eurasianet. His writings on the former Soviet Union also have been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, The Atlantic, The Nation, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and many other publications.