Democracy - articles

Located in the south of Georgia, bordering Armenia and Türkiye, lies the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti. This article analyses the challenges of youth (those aged 14-29) in and from the region, focusing on mental health, political participation, recreation, and emigration. In demographically and geopolitically complex surroundings, youth issues usually do not stand in the spotlight of public and political discourse. This results in a lack of awareness and support from decision makers, which in turn reinforces the struggles young people face in their daily lives, likely contributing to high youth emigration rates.

This article explores the relationship between identity, heritage, and place in the villages of Akhali Khulgumo and Tambovka near Paravani Lake. It highlights the social change these villages have experienced since 1991. It examines how the interplay between memory of the past and the changing dwelling practices of the Dukhobor houses in Tambovka is constitutive of broader socio-cultural transformations, positioning the two villages also within current (geo)political dynamics and new identity negotiations.

The Kremlin denies sovereignty and territorial integrity not only to Ukraine but also to Georgia. But unlike Ukraine, the ruling Georgian Dream party follows the Russian playbook and uses the Russian threat to maintain authoritarian power. 

Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections signal the country’s descent into hegemonic authoritarianism. The ruling Georgian Dream party won by engaging in election manipulation, adopting the classical illiberal-authoritarian playbook, spreading disinformation about simultaneously remaining on the EU enlargement track and instrumentalizing Russia’s threat to the country.

Tigran Amiryan, founder of the Cultural and Social Narratives Laboratory, reflects on the foreign agent law adopted by the Georgian Parliament earlier this year in a broader regional context.

The article discusses the geopolitical and economic implications of the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, which was recently adopted in Georgia despite the loud protest of different societal groups

Just under six months ago, Georgia became a formal candidate for EU membership. The Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, adopted in mid-May 2024, however, hinders Georgian accession to the EU and has drawn massive protests by Georgian society.

In December 2023, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev surprisingly announced snap presidential elections. Accordingly, Azerbaijani voters will go to the polls on February 7 instead of April 2025. In their analysis, Hamida Giyasbayli provides insights into the complex domestic and foreign policy background of these elections, which clearly signal one thing: the consolidation of authoritarian power.

The article briefly examines the history and experience of Chechen and Kist refugees who have arrived in Georgia since the late 1990s. It also evaluates state policies towards Kist and Chechen refugees from the 2000s till the present day.

The article discusses the peculiarities of capitalist development in Kutaisi, Georgia’s fourth largest city. It offers the author’s observations on the city’s uneven development, labour migration and tourism.

Discussing the example of Tbilisi, the author analyses some of the major challenges facing contemporary urban policy in Georgia, as well as the evolution of ideas and forms of protest that urban movements deploy to address them. 

Over 50,000 Armenians have already fled Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia following Azerbaijan's recent military offensive. Despite ongoing negotiations, further escalations could follow. What options do Germany and the EU have?

The article examines the current state of self-government in Georgia - an area that has received relatively less attention in the process of forming the agenda of modern Georgian public life. 

Robin Wagener, member of the German Bundestag, became the Federal Foreign Office’s coordinator for inter-societal co-operation with the South Caucasus, the Republic of Moldova and Central Asia on 1 March 2023. In this conversation, we are going to be talking about his new task and the condition of civil societies in the South Caucasus.

The article below will touch upon the potential for the emergence and self-creation of a new political citizenship in the context of the Rioni Valley protest.

Nostalgia for the Soviet era is out of fashion in Azerbaijan, just as it is in the rest of the post-Soviet countries. Looking back at the old days with sympathy is rarely encouraged, if not shunned upon, yet there are still those that do. The authors of this article tried to find out what makes them miss the USSR.

After Armenia's defeat in the war in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, foreign and security policy developments in the small South Caucasian republic are happening at an unprecedented pace. Looking to the West for additional security guarantees, Armenia has inevitably aroused the displeasure of its strategic security partner, Russia. It is still difficult to assess what consequences this will have.

This review summarises the study’s key findings and relates them to multifaceted processes of identity and state-formation, as well as to questions of generational succession.

Kultur – Demokratie – Europa - Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus Watch on YouTube This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy.

This article discusses the recent key developments that have led to a deteriorating quality of democracy and institutions in the country.