The post-Soviet country of Georgia has generated surprise upon surprise. Its Rose Revolution in 2003 marked the first time an existing leadership of a post-Soviet state was forced to surrender power peacefully. The new leadership of Western-educated Mikheil Saakashvili initiated wide-ranging domestic reforms, including a large-scale, unprecedented anti-corruption drive. It also intensified relations with the West and sought membership of the EU and NATO. The Georgian leadership’s expressed aim of re-integrating territories lost in wars in the early 1990s resulted in a devastating conflict with Russia in 2008.

All these developments, and their wider implications, receive careful yet readable attention in this collection by a truly international and specialist group of authors and practitioners. The book offers a spectrum of opinion and compelling insight into the events and decisions that have recently shaped this fascinating yet understudied country, and placed it at the forefront of interest in the changes transforming post-Soviet Eurasia.

This book is based on a special issue of European Security.