Browsing by Author "Gachechiladze, Revaz"
Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Changing Political Geography and Geopolitics of the Central Europe(2020) Gachechiladze, RevazThe region of Central Europe comprises contemporary Poland, Hungary, Czech and Slovak Republics. Austrian Republic as a rule is considered a part of the region of Western Europe. The notion of “Central Europe” had been used intermittently since 1920s and it generally meant a group of states that had appeared on the territory of the former Austrian-Hungarian Empire which had dissolved in 1918. Only Poland re- established itself as a state on the territory previously (since the 18th century) annexed by Austria along with Russia and Prussia in. The emergence of Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1918 in concrete boundaries of those days could be explained by the urgency of the already established national projects of the major ethnic groups as well as the geopolitical goals of Entente, especially those of the French Republic. France had a desire to sponsor rather loyal to itself states to the east of Germany, defeated in the WWI but considered in Paris as still potentially dangerous one. Geopolitical calculations were a reason which permitted the both states, Czechoslovakia and Poland to expand at the expense of territories with ethnically heterogeneous population. A former part of Austria-Hungarian Empire, Sudetenland, predominantly populated with ethnic Germans and some territories with ethnic Hungarians on the left bank of Danube and foothills of the Carpathian mountains had been joined to Czechoslovakia. Poland received access to the Baltic Sea which effectively made East Prussia an exclave of Germany. After war with Bolshevik Russia poliethnicity of population of Poland increased. In comparison with the abovementioned states Hungary considered itself the most aggrieved as large territories settled with ethnic Hungarians were to be ceded to the neighbouring states of Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Austria. In interwar period geopolitical codes of Central European states frequently contradicted each other, there existed serious territorial claims. Political-geographical peculiarities which developed in the region became a reason of “self-justification” of expansionism of Nazi Germany in 1938-1939 that led Europe to WW2. After WW2 Central Europe turned into the sphere of interests of the Soviet Union and had undergone “Socialist transformation”. Sovereignty of all the states of the region was restricted. Large contingents of the Soviet Army had been deployed in each of them. The whole region had been joined to the military organisation of Warsaw Pact ruled from the Kremlin and the region was considered an outpost against NATO. The sovereignty of the states of the region had been restored after the end of Cold War and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact (1990). Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary signed in Visegrad (Hungary) the document establishing a regional group in 1991. After the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia into Czech and Slovak Republics (January 1, 1993) thes regional group acquired the name of TheVisegrad Four (V4). In the beginning it was intended as an instrument to support common policy of joining the EU while now V4 is used as a mean of coordination of foreign policy within the EU. The region of Central Europe joined the EU in 2004. Such membership is a prerequisite of economic and social development of all the states of the region and, simultaneously, a guarantor of avoidance of intraregional conflicts.Item European Integration: Goals and Reality (Comparing Central European, Baltic and the South Caucasus States)(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Gachechiladze, Revaz; გაჩეჩილაძე, რევაზ; Robakidze, George; რობაქიძე, გიორგიThe predecessor of the European Union – European Economic Community (EEC) –was established as an economic alliance of western (later -- southern) European states. The EU, which came into being in 1993, appeared to become an example of the most successful economic integration case in history, which brought welfare and secured peace to the western part of the European continent. After the collapse of the USSR, the example of European integration turned out to be attractive for the former communist states of central and eastern parts of Europe. The core of the European Union – its founding members – agreed to accept new members from Central and Eastern Europe. Ten countries – Cyprus, Malta, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined the EU in 2004, Bulgaria and Romania - in 2007 and Croatia - in 2013. Thus, the total number of EU member states reached 28. For all these countries, the membership in the EU turned out to be very beneficial. Multiparty democracy has strengthened and economic development accelerated. In 2004, the total GDP of the former Communist countries of Central Europe, better known as "Visegrad four" (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) amounted to $521.7 billions, while in 2017 to $975,07 billions, in other words, after joining the EU, the total sum of the GDP of these countries increased by 86,9%. After restoring the independence (September 1991) the three Baltic states – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which were forcibly included by Moscow in the Soviet Union in 1940, had undergone a fast process of re- westernisation and they joined the European Union in 2004. Their total GDP grew by 111% in 2004-2017. Meanwhile the EU has focused its attention further eastwards to the former Soviet republics. In 2009 for six of them (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) the Eastern Partnership (EaP) programme had been established as a specific Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). This programme is still ongoing. Unlike the Central European and Baltic states, where a common pro- western public opinion existed and the efforts of the political elites were directed towards European integration, in the three states of the South Caucasus no similar spirit of solidarity is to be felt. Their foreign policy is also affected by factors outside of the region. E.g. prior to September 2013, Georgia and Armenia worked in parallel to achieve a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the EU, which is an initial step on their way to the European integration. But Moscow has forced Armenia to abandon this policy in 2013. As for Azerbaijan, it was from the beginning rather sceptical about the EU integration process. The incompatibility of foreign policy vectors and unresolved conflicts hinder the South Caucasus to be presented in the world as a single region that, in its turn, hampers the process of its integration with the European Union.Item Formation of Political Boundaries in the 20th century South Caucasus(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2021-06) Gachechiladze, RevazThe process of modern state-building started in the South Caucasus after the revolutions оf 1917 in Russia. When signing the peace treaty with Central Powers in Brest-Litovsk (March 3, 1918) the Bolshevik government of Russia did not recognize the South Caucasus as an independent political entity in spite of existence of clear elements of statehood there and ceded parts of the latter‟s territory to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans, having clear military superiority, immediately intervened in the formation of the boundaries of the newly independent republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. The treaties with Ottoman Empire (Batumi, June 4, 1918) following the clauses of Brest-Litovsk Treaty were harsh to Georgia and Armenia. Although the Ottoman Empire recognized its defeat by Entente in WW1 on October 30, 1918 the boundary pattern of June 1918 was to be discussed again two and a half years later. The relative weakness of the neighbouring powers from the end of 1918 till the spring of 1920 when Russia was involved in civil war and the nascent new Turkey fought with different forces gave the South Caucasus states a theoretical chance to divide the territory with stable political boundaries but they failed to achieve a consensus. During the break-up of an empire different approaches are being used by the new states emerging in its place, based on the principles of “ethnic settlement”, “historical territory”, or “imperial administrative-territorial division”. The first two principles are vague and more effective only in the case of a strong external po wer exerting its will, e.g. when the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was divided among the emerging Central European states by the victorious Entente according to the Treaties of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) and Trianon (1920). The principle of “imperial administrative-territorial division” had been used successfully in the cases of decolonization of Africa and dissolution of the USSR. While not considered as a just one by everybody, this principle is a certain means of avoiding boundary conflicts. The same principle was supported by the Georgian Democratic Republic in 1918-1920 and it was used as the base in Russia-Georgia Treaty of May 7, 1920. The principle was more or less acceptable to the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic and the least acceptable to the Republic of Armenia. The Soviet Russia which entered the South Caucasus in 1920-1921 encountered already formed political entities there. The boundaries of Georgia and Armenia with Turkey and a part of Armenia-Azerbaijan boundary were defined by the Moscow Treaty between Russia and Turkey (16 March, 1921). The results of Turkey-Armenia war of 1920 affected actual division as well. The administrative borders between the Union Republics of the USSR, which existed till dissolution of the latter in 1991, turned into the state boundaries.Item Voter Turnout in Parliamentary Elections of Georgia: Dynamics and Geography(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2021-06) Gachechiladze, Revaz; Gogsadze, GiorgiIn the 21st century the majority of the post-communist countries of Europe experienced significant decrease of the voter turnout. Many experts believe that the electorate‟s growing absenteeism is conditioned by multiple factors including post-Communist demobilization, decline of political enthusiasm within society, weakness of civil society institutions, political stakes, deteriorated socio-economic situation, mass emigration, etc. During its post-Soviet history, Georgia, being a young democracy, had experienced a civil war, two ethno-political conflicts, invasion of the Russian army; it endured harsh socio-economic situation in the 1990s, mass emigration, and other dramatic developments. Nevertheless, its democratic development didn‟t discontinue. After changes in the Constitution in 2010 Georgia gradually became a parliamentary republic, therefore election of its major legislative body is crucial for the country‟s political system. Geographic study of voter turnout is one of the ways for understanding complicated political processes taking place in Georgia. Analyzing political and demographic developments affecting voter turnout in Georgia two periods could be singled out: the 1990s–2000s and the 2010s. First two decades of independence were characterized by a simultaneous decline of the number of population and the level of voter turnout; electoral activism dropped by about 14 percentage points (67.1% in 1990 and53.3% in 2008). Since 2008 turnout level varies from 53 to 61 percent points. It is significant that during the last four parliamentary elections (2008- 2012-2016-2020) turnout did not demonstrate steady decrease and amount of voters remained more or less stable. The main finding of the research is that a level of electoral activism in Georgia is determined by two main factors: political stakes and mass emigration. The research deals with following academic methods: collection-processing of the official data provided by Central Election Commission of Georgia, and its time-space analysis; review of academic works on the topic; GIS technologies for preparing and integrating maps through ESRI ArcGIS, and visual design of results – Adobe Illustrator.