Losing Georgia to Putin

Excerpt

Georgian Dream, the ruling party of the Republic of Georgia, is trying, unashamedly, to turn the country into a one-party state. With national elections on October 26, the party, which is controlled and financed by the pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, is trying to drive underground, out of business, or into exile the civic, academic, watchdog, and election-monitoring groups that support closer ties to the West and are fighting Georgia’s capture by Russia.

The democratic opposition has been begging the U.S. and the EU to use their bully pulpits and sanctions to undermine the effort. In an act of foreign policy malpractice, their response has been tepid and belated.

Gary Schmitt is a resident scholar in strategic studies and American institutions at the American Enterprise Institute. Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former Iranian-targets officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, is a resident scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.