CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VIII (2) ContEurVIII2 | Page 25

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VIII (2)
Chumbadze (2014) explains the pro-Western direction of Georgia
favored by all post-independence Georgian governments and by the
overwhelming majority of the population with three facts. First,
Georgians have always seen Europe as a source of “sustainable and
democratic state development” and the basis for the “stability and
invulnerability” of a multiethnic country like Georgia. Second, the Euro-
Atlantic bloc is regarded as “the only safety guarantee” politically,
economically, and militarily. Finally, Georgians have considered
themselves Europeans, and integration with the West is a return after a
long separation 13 .
Another critical moment in Russian-Georgian relations was the
2008 Russo-Georgian War that significantly shaped the geopolitics in the
South Caucasus. Mikheil Saakashvili’s eagerness to accelerate Georgia’s
inclusion into Western institutions became a problem for Russia due to
the possibility of the enlargement of NATO. 14 Besides, Russian presence
in the two secessionist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia created
additional tension in the relations of the two countries that culminated in
the Russo-Georgian War. After the war, Russia recognized the
independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. 15 During the war and later
on, the Armenian government under the presidency of Serzh Sargsyan did
not openly favor any of the parties, although the country suffered
significant economic damages from the war amounting to more than $670
million 16 as most of Armenia’s transit routes pass through Georgia.
In the same context, another source of tension in Armenian-
Georgian relations is the presence of the Russian 102 nd military base in
Gyumri, Armenia. 17 Hamilton argues that the five thousand troops

13
Ketevan Chumbadze, “Foreign Policy Dimension of the Georgian-Armenian Bilateral
Agenda: Challenges and Opportunities for the Future Cooperation” in Armenian –
Georgian Relations: Challenges and Opportunities for the Bilateral Cooperation,
(Yerevan, Political Science Association of Armenia 2014), 71-85.
14 Cory Welt, “Georgia: Background and U.S. Policy”, Congressional Research Service
(2019), 13, https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R45307.pdf.
15 Mitat Çelikpala, “Not a Single Step Ahead: Turkey and the South Caucasus in 2009” in
Identities, Ideologies and Institutions: 2001-2011 A Decade of Insight Into the Caucasus
(Yerevan: Caucasus Institute, 2011), 194-211.
16 Nona Mikhelidze, “After the 2008 Russia-Georgia War: Implications for the Wider
Caucasus. The International Spectator”, Italian Journal of International Affairs 44, no. 3
(2009): 27-42.
17 Sergey Minasyan, “New Challenges and Opportunities for Armenia and Georgia in the
Context of Regional Security” in Armenia and Georgia in the Context of Current Political
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