The Georgian coastal city of Batumi hosted, on May 23, a trilateral meeting of the defense ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia (Azertac, May 23). This trilateral cooperation format was inaugurated in 2012, during a ministerial meeting in Trabzon, Turkey. As expected, a new military... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin made another trip to China last month (May 14–15) to address the Belt and Road Forum. But his speech at the summit’s opening highlighted that Russia and Chi­na ascribe completely different meaning to Beijing’s ambitious One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative.... MORE

“I do not know whom we should ask: [magicians David] Copperfield or [Zurab] Vadachkoria? How can it happen that a person disappears from point A and appears at point B?” wondered Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili, on June 2, in response to reports about the puzzling... MORE

The Georgian parliament’s Committee on Defense and Security met on May 12 to continue lawmakers’ discussions on how best to restructure the Georgian military reserves (Newsday Georgia, May 12). Currently, the reserves are built exclusively on a territorial and mobilization principle: according to legislation passed... MORE

The last several weeks were quite tumultuous for Georgia. The country experienced a heightened level of Russian intimidation and ended up on the receiving end of several humiliating statements by high-ranking Russian politicians. The first such incident involved the so-called Night Wolves, a Russian biker... MORE

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili recently visited the United States. And the main tangible result of his delegation’s meetings with US President Donald J. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the signing of the General Security of Information Agreement... MORE

A public discussion of the draft amendments to Georgia’s constitution, initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream–Democratic Georgia (GDDG) party, has begun (Civil Georgia, May 3). The proposed constitutional reforms are profound. According to many experts, if the package of amendments is adopted, it will effectively... MORE

Georgia’s Media Development Foundation (MDF) recently released a 53-page report on anti-Western propaganda in the country. The April 18 report covers the period from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2016. It relies on a year-long study of anti-Western messages and information (or often disinformation)... MORE

Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria traveled to France, on April 18–19, for a working visit. One of the main topics of his talks with French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in Paris, was the execution of the previously signed contract on delivery of the latest... MORE

On April 12, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSG) released its annual report for 2016, assessing the country’s security threats (Ssg.gov.ge, April 23). Unsurprisingly, the report states that “the existence of occupied territories” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remains “the main challenge,” with the... MORE