Eurasia Democratic Security Network

By Alexander Scrivener

As the death toll mounts among both Armenians and Azeris in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the situation in nearby Georgia feels a million miles away. In the throes of both a parliamentary election and a growing Covid-19 epidemic, the fact that what is now a full-blown war is happening next door has barely registered in the country outside of foreign policy circles.

That may be about to change.

Tornike Zurabashvili

To quell the impact of pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns ahead of the milestone October parliamentary elections, the government, Facebook and civil society organisations will need to take more proactive measures.

Georgia has been particularly affected by Russian information operations, especially in light of its troubled political relations with Moscow and the country’s generally unabated pro-western course. Over the last few years, large numbers of Kremlin-funded and domestic news websites and social media pages have carried out a massive information offensive against the country, undermining societal trust towards the West, public institutions and civil society organisations. They have been particularly active in the electoral periods, campaigning extensively against liberal values and liberal-minded politicians.

By Armen Grigoryan

Growing Chinese influence observed by Freedom House

The recent Freedom House Nations in Transit 2020 report pays particular attention to the growing Chinese influence in a number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, and in Central Asia. The report notes: ‘While China’s international engagement is often less directly confrontational than Russia’s, it nevertheless has an insidious effect on the development and functioning of democratic institutions … influence campaign is focused around two major goals — expanding the country’s influence abroad, and promoting a positive image of China globally. … It tailors its approach to each individual country, taking advantage of institutional weaknesses, and surreptitiously embedding itself into corrupt political and economic structures. The aggregate impact of these measures is the further degradation of good governance, transparency, and the rule of law’.

Max Fras explains why Ukraine and Georgia need to nurture homegrown talent rather than import politicians

This week, Ben speaks to Charles Clift from the Global Health Programme about the WHO’s communication challenges around the coronavirus. They explore how pandemics are defined, and the implications of when the announcement was made. Then Agnes meets Max Fras to find out how former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has gained political office in Ukraine.