Post-Election Georgia: Turning the Dream of Peace Into Reality?
►http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/172-general/51989-post-election-georgia-turning-the-dream-of-peace-into-reality-.h
Rachel Clogg
Open Democracy
October 12, 2012
Since Georgia’s independence from the USSR in 1989, autonomy movements in two regions - Abkhazia and South Ossetia - have threatened to break up the new country. After more than two decades of political upheaval, violent conflicts and stunted economic growth, Georgia’s recent parliamentary elections have been described as the country’s first peaceful transition of power. The oppositional “Georgian Dream Coalition” led by billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili’s won the majority of seats. In addition to economic stimulus, the coalition will focus on finding political solutions to the enduring regional conflicts. Will the newly elected government be able to “translate positive noises into action”?
For those of us working toward peace in the South Caucasus, recent events in Georgia have brought a renewed sense of possibility. Political upheaval, large populations of displaced people, and stunted economic growth have characterised the decades since violent conflicts broke out following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Peace processes in the Caucasus have swung between dialogue and deadlock, with periods of heightened tension or war, and the ever-present risk of renewed violence.
While peacebuilders have persevered with their efforts at building understanding across conflict divides and creating conditions for conflict transformation, many people have been cautious in their assessments of what is possible. If the newly elected government proves able to translate positive noises into action, those viewpoints may need to be revisited.