Mikhail Saakashvili

News About Mikhail Saakashvili

In Stalin’s Hometown, Absent Statues and Lingering Legacies

Positive feelings towards Stalin are, on balance, a fringe sentiment in Georgia, with no support from this or the previous Georgian government,but the broader questions of wrestling with Soviet history and indeed the legacy of brutal totalitarian regimes in general, remain acute here and in several other places including other parts of the Soviet Union as well as more recent cases such as post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

By Lincoln Mitchell

The Georgian Invasion of Ukraine

Mr. Saakashvili’s appointment will undoubtedly make his supporters in the west happy, but if those supporters really want what is best for Ukraine, they need to be honest about whether they think Odessa is best served by a governor from another country who was an effective fighter against corruption almost a decade ago, but who also limited freedoms, tolerated little dissent and made many significant mistakes of judgment during his presidency. Supporters of Ukraine should all hope Mr. Saakashvili is successful, but it should be recognized that this is a very high risk moved that is seemingly based on a very limited understanding of recent Georgian history and former Georgian President.

By Lincoln Mitchell