Revisiting U.S.-Georgia Relations after the August War

The 2008 war between Georgia and Russia has forced the United States to revisit its role in the region. The war has also served as an unequivocal reminder that Russia will no longer allow itself to be treated as a weak and vanquished country, challenged the established international regime for the recognition of sovereign states, and raised questions about Georgia's future as a Western-oriented democratic state.

In the coming years, determining the U.S. relationship with Georgia will be critical to American interests in the region, as well as to U.S. relations with Russia and Europe.  Moreover, the relationship between Washington and Tbilisi will play a major role in Georgia's future development, which, in turn, will have a significant impact both within Georgia and beyond its borders.

At this Open Society forum, Alex Cooley and Lincoln Mitchell  discuss the results of their recent report: After the August War: A New Strategy for US Engagement with Georgia.  In particular, they focus on the U.S.-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership, the U.S. strategy for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the role of the U.S. in strengthening democracy in Georgia, and the impact of postwar U.S. assistance to Georgia.

Speakers

• Alex Cooley, Open Society Fellow and Associate Professor, Columbia University
• Lincoln Mitchell, Associate Professor, Columbia University
• Fiona Hill, Director, Center on the United States and Europe
  Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy (moderator)

Anthony Richter, Director of the Open Society Foundations Central Eurasia Project, introduces the event.