Georgia: Political Power Transfer and Its International Implications

Is Georgia experiencing a rotation of government, or regime change? Have the recent elections advanced or retarded institution-building and Western influence in Georgia? What lessons can be drawn for U.S. policy? To consider these issues, The Jamestown Foundation and the SAIS Central Asia–Caucasus Institute are co-hosting a panel discussion of experts from the United States and Europe.

With introductory remarks by:

Glen E. Howard, President, The Jamestown Foundation

Featuring panel speakers:

Vladimir Socor, Senior Fellow, The Jamestown Foundation

Svante E. Cornell, Director, SAIS Central Asia–Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center

Damon Wilson, Executive Vice President, Atlantic Council

Friday, March 1, 2013

9:30 A.M.–11:30 A.M.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Root Conference Room

1779 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036

*To view the full video from this event, please click here.

Bios

Svante E. Cornell

Svante E. Cornell is the Director of the Central Asia–Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center, a Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center affiliated with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Washington D.C., and the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm. He is the Editor of the biweekly Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst (www.cacianalyst.org) and author of numerous publications on the Caucasus and Central Asia, most recently “Azerbaijan Since Independence” (M.E. Sharpe, 2011).

Vladimir Socor

Vladimir Socor is a Senior Fellow of the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation and its flagship publication, Eurasia Daily Monitor (1995 to present), where he writes analytical articles on a daily basis. An internationally recognized expert on former Soviet-ruled countries in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia, he covers Russian and Western policies there, focusing on energy policies, regional security issues, secessionist conflicts, and NATO policies and programs.

Mr. Socor is a frequent speaker at U.S. and European policy conferences and think-tank institutions. He is a regular guest lecturer at the NATO Defense College and at Harvard University’s National Security Program’s Black Sea Program (Kennedy School of Government). He is also a frequent contributor to edited volumes. Mr. Socor was previously an analyst with the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Research Institute (1983–1994). He is a Romanian-born citizen of the United States based in Munich, Germany.

Damon Wilson

Damon Wilson is an American foreign policy advisor and the Executive Vice President at the Atlantic Council of the United States. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, between 2007 and 2009, Mr. Wilson served as Senior Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council during President George W. Bush’s second term. Previously, he served at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq as the executive secretary and chief of staff.

From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Wilson served as deputy director of the Private Office of the NATO Secretary General. Prior to serving in Brussels, Mr. Wilson worked in the Department of State’s Office of European Security and Political Affairs where he was responsible for cooperation with NATO Allies on missile defense, nuclear policy, and preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Wilson also worked on the State Department’s China desk and at the U.S. embassy in Beijing as a Presidential Management Fellow. Mr. Wilson began his service at the State Department by helping coordinate policy to adapt NATO to modern security challenges and planning for the Alliance’s 50th anniversary summit in Washington during the Kosovo conflict.