Understanding the Authoritarian Turn and Mass Civil Resistance in the Republic of Georgia

The Republic of Georgia—once celebrated as a beacon of democracy in the South Caucasus—has experienced steep democratic declines in 2024, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index. In this talk, Dr. Ariel Otruba will trace Georgia’s political history, its recent backsliding toward authoritarianism, and its geopolitical shift away from the European Union and toward Russia’s sphere of influence. She will emphasize recent disputed parliamentary elections and subsequent legislative changes enacted by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which have led to months of street protests and mass civil resistance.

Dr. Ariel Otruba is a Non-Resident Research Fellow at the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance and teaches in the International Peace and Conflict Resolution program at Arcadia University. She is the co-editor of Violent Infrastructure: Protracted Displacement and Housing Injustice in Tskaltubo, Georgia (2025), which examines the emotional impact of abject housing infrastructure conditions on displaced people in the Republic of Georgia.

This is the first of two lectures exploring the political situation in the Republic of Georgia. We will convene again on April 14 for a lecture by Tamar Jakeli '17 on her activism in the Georgian Green Party.