Since the Rose Revolution, pro-Western Georgian politicians strive to lead their country into the apparent safe haven of the NATO defense collective. So far membership seems far off, causing disappointment among many Georgians and affirming those who preferred less integration in the Western geopolitical bloc. The continuing debate as to whether or not Georgia should assume full membership in the alliance may be obfuscating the reality that the present relationship with the alliance is the most ideal for Georgia.

On Monday, May 11th, Professor of Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) Dr. Mette Helene Bjørndal gave a public lecture at ISET conference hall. Prof. Bjørndal held the presentation titled “Insights into the Nordic Energy Market”. The main aspects of the presentation were to review the structure, main characteristics of the Nordic power market, and peculiarities of its integration into other European electricity markets.

In the 15th century, the Kingdom of Georgia started a painful process of disintegration from which it did not recover until the modern era, and ultimately, Georgia’s breakup at the end of the medieval age accounts for the regrettable fact that the country could not maintain its status as an independent nation (Florian Biermann and I discussed the cataclysmic Treaty of Georgievsk in our article about King Erekle II).

Regional development policy, defined as aid and assistance given to economically less developed regions, is an issue for almost every country that seeks territorial unity. Putting the arguments of equity or efficiency aside, states with high regional disparities are potentially exposed to the political risk of disintegration.

This research paper by Tony Venables has some interesting implications for the South Caucasus.