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NEWS & LETTERS, DECEMBER 2003Our Life and Times by Kevin A. BarryGeorgia collapseIn just three weeks the Georgia government of Eduard Shevardnadze, in power since the collapse of the Soviet Union, crumbled in the face of mass demonstrations. Shevardnadze, who once stood on the world stage as Soviet foreign minister alongside Mikhail Gorbachev, was forced into a humiliating resignation and probably exile. The immediate crisis began on Nov. 2, when Shevardnadze rigged parliamentary elections in an attempt to remain in power until 2005. Both opposition parties and foreign observers denounced these sham elections. Spurred by Kmara, a student organization, the demonstrations built quickly. (Kmara openly modeled itself on Otpor, the Serbian student group that helped organize the 2000 overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic.) On Nov. 22, demonstrators seized parliament. The next day, with a push from Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who had arrived to "mediate," Shevardnadze resigned. Georgia, which borders war-ravaged Chechnya, has seen its standard of living plunge amid economic crisis and high-level corruption. Any new moves by Russia to gain a deeper foothold are sure to be countered by the U.S., especially since a consortium of U.S. oil companies is building a massive pipeline through Georgia. Scheduled for completion in 2005, it will bring oil from Azerbaijan to Turkey, bypassing Russian territory. |
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