CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Page 145

ZURAB TARGAMADZE
but at this time more emphasis was on historical-cultural moments and
has outlined to the civil ambitions.
For the 20th century, the issue of nationalism can be divided into sev-
eral phases: 1. In the Soviet period Georgian ethnic nationalism was en-
couraged, connected with the sense of elitism; 2. In 1990s, after acqui-
sition of independence and subsequent military confl ict, ethno-cultural
elitism is replaced by patriotic ideas and ideas of protection of homeland
borders, in Georgian nationalism, which was prompted primarily by the
wish of building a democratic society; 3. Rose Revolution became some-
thing like turning point for Georgian nationalism from the transforming
the old Georgian nationalistic ideas to the new and strong feeling of polit-
ical identity.
And fi nally, Russia’s negative role in aggravation of Georgian con-
fl icts cannot cover the fact that the Abkhazian and Ossetian people have
shared their propaganda, and although, they were acting according to the
Russian policy, today this choice is their national position. Although the
aforementioned issues are studied on a continuous basis, the sooner the
ethno-cultural prejudices are identifi ed, the sooner Georgians will know
what they want and where they are going.
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