Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-75dct Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-06T10:22:22.425Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Can Small States Reshape Their Regional Identities? Examining Georgia’s Cognitive Dissonance between South Caucasus and Eastern Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

Kornely Kakachia Open the ORCID record for Kornely Kakachia [Opens in a new window]  and
Bidzina Lebanidze
Kornely Kakachia*
Affiliation:
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia
Bidzina Lebanidze
Affiliation:
Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
*
Corresponding author: Kornely Kakachia; Email: kornely.kakachia@tsu.ge
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Georgia represents an interesting case to study the agency of small states in reshaping their regional identity and external environment. Although much of the world has considered Georgia as politically part of the South Caucasus region, the country’s political elites themselves have long attempted to escape the geographic boundaries of the South Caucasus region and relocate their country into Eastern Europe. We argue that Georgian elites were partially successful in their quest for foreign political identity change. Although they did not manage to entirely change the international perception about Georgia’s geographic belonging, the country has politically moved closer to Eastern Europe and is considered to be part of “Associated Trio” together with Ukraine and Moldova—and recently became an EU candidate. From a theoretical perspective, we argue that Georgia’s quest for foreign policy identity recalibration fits the constructivist paradigm of international relations well. It can be argued that Georgia’s political elites were partially driven by ideational factors and were ignorant of the balance of power in their external environment, which cost the country the lost wars and compromised territorial sovereignty.

Keywords

GeorgiaBlack SeaEastern EuropeRegionalismmisplacednessForeign policy
Type
Special Issue Article
Information
Nationalities Papers , First View , pp. 1 - 15
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Association for the Study of Nationalities

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aprasidze, David. 2022. “In the Caucasus but toward the Black Sea: Georgia’s Regional Identity in Flux.” In Georgia’s Foreign Policy in the 21st Century. Challenges for a Small State, edited by German, Tracey, Jones, Stephen F., and Kakachia, Kornely, 77–88. London: I.B. Taurus.Google Scholar
Aslam, Wali. 2020. “Pakistan’s Hard Misplacement and the Politics of Regional Identity.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 33 (4): 542–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aslam, Wali, Wehner, Leslie, Koga, Kei, van der Westhuizen, Janis, Thies, Cameron G., and de Sá Guimarães, Feliciano. 2020. “Misplaced States and the Politics of Regional Identity: Towards a Theoretical Framework.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 33 (4): 505–526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, Matthew A., and Philip, B. K. Potter. 2008. “The Relationships between Mass Media, Public Opinion, and Foreign Policy: Toward a Theoretical Synthesis.” Annual Review of Political Science 11:39–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Börzel, Tanja, and Lebanidze, Bidzina. 2015. “European Neighbourhood Policy at the Cross-Roads: Evaluating the Past to Shape the Future.” MAXCAP Input Paper 13.Google Scholar
Börzel, Tanja, and Pamuk, Yasemin. 2012. “Pathologies of Europeanisation: Fighting Corruption in the Southern Caucasus.” West European Politics 35 (1): 79–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, Thomas J. 1996. “Grand Strategy, National Political Power, and Two-Level Foreign Policy Analysis.” In Useful Adversaries: Grand Strategy, Domestic Mobilization, and Sino-American Conflict, 1947-1958, 11–31. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Civil.ge. 2022. “EU Bid: Macron Disassociates Georgia From Moldova, Ukraine.” June 16, 2022. https://civil.ge/archives/496363.Google Scholar
Cornell, Svante E., and Nilsson, Niklas. 2009. “Georgian Politics since the August 2008 War.” Demokratizatsiya 17 (3): 251–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corso, Molly. 2005. “CIS Struggles for Cohesion.” Refworld. June 6, 2005. (Accessed May 5, 2022.) https://www.refworld.org/docid/46c58f152d.html.Google Scholar
Delcour, Laure. 2013. “Meandering Europeanisation. EU Policy Instruments and Policy Convergence in Georgia under the Eastern Partnership.” East European Politics 29 (3): 344–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emerson, Michael, and Blockmans, Steven. 2022. “Georgia’s Dubious Application for EU Membership.” Centre for European Policy Studies. May 20, 2022. (Accessed September 9, 2022.) https://www.ceps.eu/georgias-dubious-application-for-eu-membership/.Google Scholar
European Commission. 2022. “2022 State of the Union Address by President von der Leyen.” September 14, 2022. (Accessed September 20, 2022.) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/ov/SPEECH_22_5493.Google Scholar
House, Freedom. 2022a. “Freedom in the World 2022. Georgia.” (Accessed September 9, 2022.) https://freedomhouse.org/country/georgia/freedom-world/2022.Google Scholar
House, Freedom. 2022b. “Nations in Transit 2022. Georgia.” (Accessed September 9, 2022.) https://freedomhouse.org/country/georgia/nations-transit/2022.Google Scholar
German, Tracey. 2016. Regional Cooperation in the South Caucasus: Good Neighbours or Distant Relatives? London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guzzini, Stefano. 2000. “A Reconstruction of Constructivism in International Relations.” European Journal of International Relations 6 (2): 147–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gvalia, Giorgi, Lebanidze, Bidzina, and Siroky, David. 2019. “Neoclassical Realism and Small States: Systemic Constraints and Domestic Filters in Georgia’s Foreign Policy.” East European Politics 35 (1): 21–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gvalia, Giorgi, Siroky, David, Lebanidze, Bidzina, and Iashvili, Zurab. 2013. “Thinking Outside the Bloc: Explaining the Foreign Policies of Small States.” Security Studies 22 (1): 98–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kakachia, Kornely. 2013. “Politics of Insecurity: Cross-border Conflict Dynamics and Security Challenges in Georgia.” In Security and Cross-Border Cooperation in the EU, the Black Sea Region and Southern Caucasus, edited by Ergun, A and Isaxanli, H. 152–167. Amsterdam: IOS PressGoogle Scholar
Kakachia, Kornely, and Kakabadze, Shota. 2022. “Creeping Finlandization or Prudent Foreign Policy? Georgia’s Strategic Challenges amid the Ukrainian Crisis.” PONARS Eurasia. March 28, 2022. (Accessed April 11, 2023.) https://www.ponarseurasia.org/creeping-finlandization-or-prudent-foreign-policy-georgias-strategic-challenges-amid-the-ukrainian-crisis/Google Scholar
Kakachia, Kornely, Kakhishvili, Levan, Larsen, Joseph, and Grigalashvili, Mariam. 2017. “Mitigating Russia’s Borderization of Georgia: A Strategy to Contain and Engage.” Tbilisi: Georgian Institute of Politics.Google Scholar
Kakachia, Kornely, and Lebanidze, Bidzina. 2019. “Georgian Dream Meets Georgia’s Nightmare. Foreign Policy.” Foreign Policy. June 25, 2019. (Accessed June 7, 2022.) https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/25/georgian-dream-meets-georgias-nightmare/Google Scholar
Kakachia, Kornely, Lebanidze, Bidzina, and Dubovyk, Volodymyr. 2019. “Defying Marginality: Explaining Ukraine’s and Georgia’s Drive towards Europe.” Journal of Contemporary European Studies 27 (4): 451–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kakachia, Kornely, and Minesashvili, Salome. 2015. “Identity Politics: Exploring Georgian Foreign Policy Behavior.” Journal of Eurasian Studies 6 (2): 171–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kakachia, Kornely, Minesashvili, Salome, and Kakhishvili, Levan. 2018. “Change and Continuity in the Foreign Policies of Small States: Elite Perceptions and Georgia’s Foreign Policy Towards Russia.” Europe-Asia Studies 70 (5): 814–831.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koga, Kei. 2020. “The Evolution of Japan’s ‘Misplacement’: From the Meiji Restoration to the Post-Cold War Era.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 33 (4): 572–587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Köhler, Imke. 2019. Framing the Threat. Berlin: De Gruyter Oldenbourg.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langbein, Julia, and Börzel, Tanja. 2014. “Introduction: Explaining Policy Change in the European Union’s Eastern Neighbourhood.” [Chap. 1] In Explaining Policy Change in the European Union’s Eastern Neighbourhood, edited by Lanbein, Julia and Börzel, Tanja. Oxford: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Lebanidze, Bidzina. 2015. “Building Democracy at Gunpoint: Russia, EU and Their Little Neighbors.” (working paper, Free University Berlin).Google Scholar
Lebanidze, Bidzina. 2020. Russia, EU and the Post-Soviet Democratic Failure. Wiesbaden: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lebanidze, Bidzina, and Kakachia, Kornely. 2023. “Bandwagoning by Stealth? Explaining Georgia’s Appeasement Policy on Russia.” European Security 32 (4): 676–695.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitsky, Steven, and Way, Lucan. 2010. Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War: Problems of International Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
March, James G., and Olsen, Johan P.. 1996. “Institutional Perspectives on Political Institutions.” Governance 9 (3): 247–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
March, James G., and Olsen, Johan P.. 1998. “The Institutional Dynamics of International Political Orders.” International Organization 52 (4): 943–969.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mearsheimer, John J. 2001. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. The Norton Series in World Politics. London: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Georgia, MFA. 2019. “The Foreign Policy Strategy 2019-2022.” (Accessed February 20, 2020.) https://mfa.gov.ge/en/Foreign-Policy-Strategy.Google Scholar
Georgia, MOD. 2011. “National Security Concept of Georgia.” (Accessed December 12, 2021.) https://mod.gov.ge/uploads/2018/pdf/NSC-ENG.pdf.Google Scholar
Moravcsik, Andrew. 1997. “Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics.” International Organization 51 (4): 513–553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Onuf, Nicholas. 2013. Making Sense, Making Worlds: Constructivism in Social Theory and International Relations. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oskanian, Kevork. 2016. “The Balance Strikes Back: Power, Perceptions, and Ideology in Georgian Foreign Policy, 1992–2014.” Foreign Policy Analysis 12 (4): 628–652.Google Scholar
Paul, Amanda, and Andguladze, Ana. 2018. “Nato Should Keep Georgia on its Mind at Summit.” EU Observer. July 9, 2018. https://euobserver.com/opinion/142304.Google Scholar
RFE/RL. 2002. “Georgia: Shevardnadze Officially Requests Invitation to Join NATO.” November 22, 2002. https://www.rferl.org/a/1101463.html.Google Scholar
RFE/RL. 2003. “Newsline—October 1, 2003.” October 1, 2003. http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1143013.html.Google Scholar
RFE/RL. 2005. “Ukraine: Regional Leaders Set Up Community of Democratic Choice.” December 2, 2005. https://www.rferl.org/a/1063461.html.Google Scholar
Rose, Gideon. 1998. “Neoclassical Realism and Theories of Foreign Policy.” World Politics 51 (1): 144–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabanadze, Natalie. 2022. “EU–Georgia: Politics, Geography and Identity.” In Georgia’s Foreign Policy in The 21st Century. Challenges for a Small State, edited by German, Tracey, Jones, Stephen, and Kakachia, Kornely, 139–158. London: Taurus.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samkharadze, Nino. 2022. “Georgia’s Mediation Efforts in the Peace Talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the Post-conflict Regional Reality.” The Georgian Institute of Politics. May 11, 2022. https://gip.ge/georgias-mediation-efforts-in-the-peace-talks-between-azerbaijan-and-armenia-and-the-post-conflict-regional-reality/.Google Scholar
Schweller, Randall L. 1994. “Bandwagoning for Profit: Bringing the Revisionist State Back In.” International Security 19 (1): 72–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, J. David. 1961. “The Level-of-Analysis Problem in International Relations.” World Politics 14 (1): 77–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Online, Spiegel. 2008. “NATO Expansion Defeat: France and Germany Thwart Bush’s Plans.” Der Spiegel, April 3, 2008. https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/nato-expansion-defeat-france-and-germany-thwart-bush-s-plans-a-545078.html.Google Scholar
State.Gov. 2003. “Georgia Train and Equip Program (GTEP).” February 1, 2003. https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/b/eur/18737.htm.Google Scholar
Tsereteli, Mamuka. 2020. “Escalation in Karabakh: Implications for the Southern Gas Corridor.” Middle East Institute. October 28, 2020. https://www.mei.edu/publications/escalation-karabakh-implications-southern-gas-corridor.Google Scholar
US Embassy to Georgia. 2022. “Fact Sheet: Georgia Defense and Deterrence Enhancement Initiative.” October 18, 2021. https://ge.usembassy.gov/fact-sheet-georgia-defense-and-deterrence-enhancement-initiative/).Google Scholar
van der Westhuizen, Janis. 2020. “From Hard to Soft Misplacement: South Africa’s Ambivalent African Identity.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 33 (4): 588–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walt, Stephen M. 1990. The Origins of Alliance. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Waltz, Kenneth N. 2001. Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Waltz, Kenneth N. 2010. Theory of International Politics. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.Google Scholar
Wehner, Leslie E. 2020. “Chile’s Soft Misplaced Regional Identity.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 33 (4): 555–571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wendt, Alexander. 1992. “Anarchy Is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics.” International Organization 46 (2): 391–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank. 2012. Fighting Corruption in Public Services: Chronicling Georgia’s Reforms. Directions in Development. Washington DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Zakaria, Fareed. 1999. From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America’s World Role. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar