Can Trump & Putin Pull Georgia out of the Quagmire?

Op-Ed

Inside the country, the overall generic belief entertained by our people, is that Georgia is sizable enough a nation with solid enough international renown and serious enough cultural reputation to be reckoned with, but this kind of judgment is only a fake impression, nothing else. In actual fact, we are almost nobody, and here is why: we sell very little of our product; we generate nothing valuable for extensive trading with other nations; we make money in laughable amounts and spend more than we earn; we can’t make our national identity recognizable universally and have no way to initiate ourselves in NATO or acquire European Union membership; we have not succeeded in reinstating our lost territorial integrity, failed to reinforce and secure our state borders; cannot put our currency in the global market; fall short of upholding the demographic balance; are not capable of nourishing our population without fits and starts; and the decisions we make are not always conducive to a better standard of living for the average Georgian citizen.

This said, one can easily imagine what our freedom and independence has given us in the short-term or has in store for us in the long run if that long run is ever going to be carved out as a bright prospect of our future. After almost 30 years of acquiring national liberty, Georgia has found itself at the mercy of two major rivaling powers that may or may not have the time and desire to squeeze Georgia with its current problems into their busy international agenda so that the Georgian people are not constrained for the rest of their lives to be taking to the streets to let its scarcely audible voice be heard in the geopolitical wilderness of unlimited size and longevity.

Georgia needs to be heard, and it is not! Georgia needs to be right in the spotlight of global decision-makers, but it is not! Georgia needs a huge amount of extra funds in its scanty state coffers but there is nobody out there to take care of this! Georgia is hurting badly and it screams for help but the cry is falling on deaf ears. The only ears that might effectively react to our squeal belong to America and Russia. These are the powers that be! These are the nations whose presidents hold the key to the Georgian problems, especially the dilemma of Georgia’s territorial integrity, which was ruined three decades ago as a result of the clamorous soviet breakup.

The solution to Georgia’s main problem is a matter of a Trump-Putin political interaction. Nobody else will ever solve the frozen conflict that is purely of Russian-Georgian character. If Trump and Putin say, ‘Open Sesame,’ then the Sesame will open. If not, its door will remain forever locked. It is not good, of course, that Georgia’s future totally depends on only two person’s quirks and whims, but this is what the reality suggests.

Every other effort, be it forceful or diplomatic, is a joke. Every other political endeavor, no matter how masterfully it is undertaken, is the subject of shameful failure. Every other attempt to put things straight in favor of Georgia is doomed to fail. And this is not simple pessimism: this is what the last 30 years of beating around the bush has given us. And finally, what kind of Trump and Putin can be helpful in terms of pulling Georgia out of the quagmire it is stuck in? The best presumption is a Trump and Putin who talk to each other every so often; who include Georgia in their talks; who think that Georgia is worth talking about as a nation; who pursue common interests in Georgia, thus finding themselves on the same page concerning Georgia’s future; who appreciate the Georgian people and the Georgian culture so much that maintaining Georgia’s territorial integrity makes sense to both; who negotiate the Georgian deal so wisely that every party to the deal is happy with the consequences; who think that the correction of Georgia’s current situation is possible; who understand that there is something terribly unfair in what is happening to Georgia right now; who are willing and capable of ending Georgia’s territorial affliction and its 30 years of national anguish, based on that affliction. If we don’t have this kind of Trump and Putin as soon as possible, Georgia will forever stay where it is, while we just talk about it.

By Nugzar B. Ruhadze

Photo by Mikhail Klimentyev—AFP/Getty Images