The Washington Times: Georgia is Key for Latest Geopolitical Strategies Realignment

From Europe to Asia, geopolitical strategies are realigning, and all of the moving pieces converge in the Caucasus region, which includes three post-Soviet countries: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Georgia is the key. It is at the center of the action and the stakes for the United States could not be higher. China is astride Eurasia with its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. Russia, in decline, seeks to attach itself to China's dynamism while preserving a footprint as the hegemon of the post-Soviet space. Central Asia shows its economic potential through important reforms, while Turkey flirts with new visions of its strategic importance in a non-European future.

China, Russia, the United States and Europe all seek opportunities to enhance stability, promote economic development, and gain strategic advantage. These trajectories intersect in the Caucasus, where all of the key players seek to develop positions of political influence and economic advantage, where the North-South and East-West axes intersect.

While the United States maintains a presence in the Gulf and in Afghanistan, the regions of the former Soviet Union, including the Caucasus and Central Asia, often remain overlooked.

As Washington's relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan remain complicated due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, lingering since 1988, pro-Western Georgia alongside Israel is America's most committed, reliable friend and ally in the wider region.

Georgia is situated on the Caucasus land bridge between Europe and Asia, between the Black and Caspian Seas. Over the millenniums, it has been invaded by the Persians, the Ottomans, the Russians and the Mongolians. Each time, Georgians have pushed back their oppressors.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Georgia emerged once again an independent nation in the midst of this volatile environment. Georgia has a stable and democratic government that has been working hard to forge closer ties with Western Europe and the United States, especially in recent years. However, this is a route that must be navigated with skill and precision.

Source: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/7/georgia-is-key-for-latest-geopolitical-strategies-/