Predictions that Georgia might replicate the Russian practice of taming disobedient media owners appear to have come true. The voluntary renunciation by Georgian media mogul Erosi Kitsmarishvili of his lucrative media business has rekindled the thorny question about how Saakashvili's government treats the private media... MORE

The October 3 presidential election in Abkhazia has produced a far greater reaction in the Russian media than the scale of Russia's involvement in this Georgian separatist region or indeed the importance of the choices in these elections should merit (Kommersant, October 7, 8; Nezavisimaya... MORE

Although the outcome of the chaotic October 3 "presidential election" in Georgia's separatist region of Abkhazia is still uncertain, one major loser is already known: the Kremlin. Russia's crude involvement in the campaign and its open backing of one candidate in the first contested ballot... MORE

On October 4, Abkhazia's Central Election Commission (CEC) declared Raul Khajimba winner of the October 3 presidential election. Outgoing Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba had backed Khajimba's candidacy. According to the CEC, Khajimba received 101,500 votes (52.84%), runner-up Sergei Bagapsh took 64,500 (33.58%), Sergei Shamba 19,050... MORE

The Georgian political establishment has reacted angrily to a one-hour documentary entitled, "Who is Misha?" about Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The film was broadcast on Russian television on September 29 by NTV's popular program "Soversheno Sekretno." The film was heavy on the details of Saakashvili's... MORE

On October 3, voters in Abkhazia will choose a successor to their ailing president. Vladislav Ardzinba led the region in its fight for independence from Georgia in 1992 and 1993 before becoming president of the self-declared republic in 1994. The new president of Abkhazia will... MORE

Georgia has proposed an OSCE-hosted international conference that would institute genuine peacekeeping and negotiating mechanisms regarding South Ossetia. The process, once launched, would ultimately work out a definitive political solution to the South Ossetia conflict. OSCE's Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Solomon Passy, has... MORE

Georgia's draft media law is rapidly becoming a major embarrassment for the Saakashvili government. Ironically, the new legislation, if adopted, would make life much harder for the Georgian media, which was a key player during the Rose Revolution of November 2003. Georgia's new tax code,... MORE

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili addressed an audience of prominent businessmen and other distinguished Americans and Europeans at a special event hosted for him by the Jamestown Foundation in New York on September 20. Saakashvili spoke on Georgia's state consolidation, its security problems, and its Euro-Atlantic... MORE

On September 16, Georgian television broadcast live parliamentary debates on recent events in South Ossetia and how they fit into the broader context of Georgian-Russian relations. The pointed debate suggested that Georgia's political opposition has awakened from its long hibernation following the November 2003 Rose... MORE