As he languishes in prison, on the edge of death, Saakshvili’s fate is not merely the fate of an entire country, it is the fate of the entire former Soviet area.
On the Kyiv Post, CSIG director’s Claudia Palazzo editorial on the condition of the third President of the Georgian Republic, Mikheil Saakashvili, and the future of Georgia and the whole post-Soviet region. Published February 9, 2023.
Following some excerpts:
“Why is Saakashvili’s liberation so heartfelt and important? There are reasons that go beyond the need to stand up against the human rights abuses to which Saakashvili is being subjected.
It is about the fate of an entire country, Georgia, and the fate of the entire area that was once part of the Soviet Union.
When talking about recent Georgian history, it is about the “Saakashvili era” that historians and political scientists refer to. The chronological boundaries of it do not coincide with Misha’s presidency.
It is a “Renaissance” of sorts, a “Belle époque” – a period that in time will be viewed to have started and ended with a major historical event reversing the trend of that time.”
“Indeed, Russia wants to kill Saakashvili because he represents an era, an aspiration. Although Saakashvili’s detractors may have their reasons to oppose him, they appear muted now with him in detention.
Because Saakashvili represents the hope that had animated Georgia before the country started to gradually be dragged back into a suffocating dependence.”
“With Saakashvili suffering and risking death, the roses of the revolution are withering.
But not everything is lost. While Ukrainians are sacrificing their lives for this struggle, protecting the dignity of the free world, and with Georgians praying and fighting themselves for their sister country, it is not too late for the civilized world to intervene and free Misha.
Scripture says that “whoever saves a life saves the whole world.” Since Saakashvili incarnates a historical paradigm common to so many people of the world, this might truly be the case.”
You can find the full article here: https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/11904
