Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Georgian nation went through a process of rapid disinvestment and de-industrialization. It was forced to shut down industrial plants, sending scrap metal abroad, and workers into subsistence farming. Hunger has never become an issue thanks to the country’s moderate climate and good soil conditions, yet inequality and associated political pressures rapidly reached catastrophic dimensions, unleashing cycles of violence, undermining the political order, and inhibiting prospects of economic growth.

Having just celebrated its 25th anniversary as an independent state, Georgia remains in a state of revolutionary flux. Just like a box of chocolate, this beautiful country is full of contrasting flavors, never losing the ability to surprise and fascinate at every twist and turn of its history.

There is a lot of affinity among Estonia and Georgia, two tiny nations for centuries caught between the Russian rock and the German or Ottoman/Persian hard place. Common fate may be, indeed, the reason for Georgia’s topping the list of Estonian development cooperation priorities. Georgia is the largest recipient of Estonia’s bilateral aid, most of which is about sharing the Estonian experience of establishing itself as a new European democracy and a unique place to do business.

On October 7th, the head of the Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC), Pati Mamardashvili, and researchers Lasha Lanchava and Irakli Kochlamazashvili attended a parliamentary discussion regarding the 2016 budget of the Ministry of Agriculture. This meeting was organized by the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) in the framework of the project "Strengthening the System of Parliamentary Democracy in Georgia".

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the word gay refers to a cheerful, lively, and high-spirited person. The LGBT Prague Pride Parade, which I was fortunate to observe on my recent visit to Prague, lived to the very definition of the word. What I saw was fabulous: unicorns and countless rainbow-colored flags, balloons, and thousands of exalted people dancing and singing in the middle of Wenceslas Square.