Independent analysis on European policy, integration, and democratic governance.
During my tenure as Ambassador of Japan to Georgia from 2017 to 2020, I was fortunate to receive the warm friendship of many Georgian colleagues and friends. My memories of Georgia are sustained not merely by its magnificent history, natural beauty, or iconic wine culture,…
On 18 March 2026, the European Commission tabled COM(2026) 321 — a regulation that would create "EU Inc.", an optional corporate form sitting alongside the twenty-seven national company laws of the member states rather than replacing them. The initiative reflects a broader view in Brussels…
On 8 July 2026, in The Hague, during the 33rd Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Georgian delegation walked out of the session hall in protest when the Assembly adopted the “Hague Declaration,” which also incorporated a resolution initiated by US Congressman Joe…
August 2008 Russo-Georgian war was, by any honest assessment, a strategic disappointment for Moscow. It occupied 18 per cent of Georgian territory, which Russia had already effectively controlled since the early 1990s;
Thirty-five years is a long enough record to learn from. Ambassador Tedo Japaridze, once my boss, mentor and now dear friend, has given us an essay of rare honesty — the honesty of someone who did not merely witness these decisions but shaped them, and…
On 23 June 2026, the European Commission brought together transport ministers and senior officials from Central Asia, South Caucasus and Eastern Europe in Brussels to launch the Connectivity Agenda Platform, a framework for coordinating investment along the trade corridor that links the European Union to Central…
The term Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), formalised by the European External Action Service (EEAS), marks a deliberate analytical departure from earlier, narrower concepts. The EEAS defines FIMI as "a mostly non-illegal pattern of behaviour that threatens or has the potential to negatively impact…
A Civilisational Identity, Not a Political Slogan Georgia has always known where it belongs. Long before the European Union existed, long before NATO was founded, Georgians identified with European civilisation and its values. This is not a recent political choice — it is intertwined in…
Across the European Union, media pluralism is under simultaneous pressure from two directions: state-driven capture—where governing majorities systematically dismantle editorial independence—and market-driven concentration —where a handful of conglomerates absorb the remaining outlets.
For many years, I believed that one of the most common mistakes made by small states was to mistake a change of administration in Washington for a change in America itself. Administrations come and go. Presidents come and go. Political fashions rise and fall. Institutions,…
Reading Victor Kipiani's recent essay on hedging, national interest, and the emerging international order, I found myself reflecting on many of the same questions. His observations are timely and thought-provoking. Yet they also led me to revisit several lessons that Georgia has learned - sometimes…
Applebaum mapped the threat. Draghi mapped the response. Krastev does something different and equally necessary — he maps the terrain itself. Before we can defend or build, we need to understand what kind of moment we are actually living through. This lecture is about understanding.…
In this guest commentary for Almanach, Ambassador Tedo Japaridze reflects on Georgia’s search for legitimacy, strategic balance, and economic resilience through the lens of historian Paul Kennedy’s enduring analysis of power and survival. The article argues that for small states like Georgia, the central challenge…
In this guest commentary for Almanach, Ambassador Tedo Japaridze reflects on the growing debate surrounding neutrality in Georgia through the prism of great-power competition, democratic resilience, and small-state vulnerability. Drawing on the concept of the “Thucydidean Trap,” the author argues that for Georgia, the greatest…
In this analysis, Ilan Dascencao examines how the European Union’s regulatory simplification agenda seeks to improve the efficiency of public action while placing growing pressure on democratic legitimacy. Focusing on the Better Regulation framework, the article explores how instruments such as REFIT, impact assessments, and…
The day after Anne Applebaum asked whether Europeans recognise their own moment, Mario Draghi told them exactly what to do about it. Accepting the Charlemagne Prize in Aachen on 14 May 2026, Draghi delivered not an acceptance address but a strategic blueprint: complete the single…
