Hall Hall: Georgia Needs to Engage the New US Admin Early on with a Strong Message
Unlike the Georgian child in Bertolt Brecht’s 1948 play, “The Caucasian Chalk Circle,” who risks being torn in two literally as his birth mother and adoptive mother tussle over him, Georgia is a grown-up country with a voice and an opinion of its own. It is time for all the protagonists in the modern day version of this play to accept this reality, and pay more respect to the aspirations of Georgia’s own people. - writes the former UK Ambassador to Georgia and now senior fellow at DC based Atlantic Council of US, Alexandra Hall Hall in her most recent published piece on the AC website.
Voice of America’s Georgian Service sat down with her to discuss potential shifts in US foreign policy and its role in Russia and the wider region.
Donald Trump’s stance toward Russia caused a lot of angst among US partners, should we expect another “reset”?
There seem to be two main streams: a traditional Republican establishment view, forcefully held onto in Congress, and some of his own nominees that value alliances such as NATO and regard Russia as a very big threat.
And there are members of the administration, his national security advisor, secretary of state, who have enjoyed some close dealings with Russia. And you have President Trump himself, who said very clearly that he would be happy to work and get along with President Putin.
The President himself is quite an unpredictable character, so, I think it is too soon to say there will be whole new realignment, but I think it’s clear that President Trump has a desire to get along better with the Russian President.
Trump praised Putin a lot during the campaign. The “flirtation” of the two is something new in US-Russian relations, how do you think that will affect countries like Georgia or Ukraine?
President Trump engages with people on a very personal level. My own hunch is that part of his admiration for President Putin is a perception that he is very strong and assertive in defending Russian interests. And that is something the US should be doing more – asserting US interests. The question is: can US and Russian interests coincide?
My recommendation for countries like Georgia is to engage very early on with this new administration. Keep the messages short and simple – “You love your country, you want America secure, strong and prosperous, we Georgians want the same thing for our country. We, in Georgia, want to be in charge of our destiny and we don’t want to be pushed over.”
In your recent piece, you say, “It is time for all countries affected by Russia’s hostile activities to be more proactive in defending their interests—without relying on US leadership.” How do you see this happening given the disproportionality of power between Russia and Georgia?
Is it realistic for Georgia to stand up by itself? Maybe not. But Georgia is a part of a bigger community; it may not formally be in NATO, but it has very strong connections with the NATO countries, it has strong bilateral partnerships with my country – the United Kingdom and with The United States. Those remain good and valid mechanisms for Georgia to raise awareness of its own situation and to find a way to stand firm against Russia.
There is a worry that in a desire to achieve a new state of cooperation with Russia, countries like Georgia and Ukraine are somewhat overlooked. That is a legitimate concern. Putin will push as far as he can in Georgia, in Ukraine, and if you don’t stand firm to set boundaries on unacceptable behavior, you will see other problems cropping up. It is incumbent for countries in this region supported by their friends and allies to make clear that any new US-Russia cooperation should not be at the expense of interests of those friends and allies.
There is much at stake for Georgia. Its breakaway regions, continuing creeping occupation and its Euro-Atlantic aspirations. Do you think any of this can be resolved or achieved without strong international support?
Georgia remains a successful example of what can be achieved with the support of EU and NATO and remains a model for other countries. What I would really like to see to happen in Georgia is a very strong, united message to come to the new US administration, a very early engagement on the values they share and how they can work with the new administration.
It is important that Georgians across the political spectrum work together on this. In the last four years we saw a lot of airing of dirty linen internationally; I really hope that the Georgian political establishment moves beyond that.
Link Georgian version:
http://www.amerikiskhma.com/a/alex-hall-hall/3695581.html
Nana Sajaia for Voice of America, Georgian Service