Description:
The inside story of the "people's revolution" that was neither a revolution nor an act of the people. Written by an insider and leading authority, Democracy and Autocracy in Eurasia is a compelling chronicle of the political development of the Republic of Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Brief description:
Irakly Areshidze is a strategic consultant who was born in the Soviet Republic of Georgia. He came to the United States at the age of fourteen and graduated from Middlebury College with high honors in political science. For the next two years, he was a visiting scholar at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies. During this time, he co-founded the Partnership for Social Initiatives, a Georgia- based think tank. In 2003-2004, he was the deputy campaign manager and chief strategist for the New Rights party, Georgia's main opposition party. His writing has appeared in many publications, including the, the Washington Post, and the Christian Science Monitor.
Review Quotes: "Democracy and Autocracy in Eurasia is a controversial and often compelling interpretation of the origins and consequences of Georgia's Rose Revolution. Irakly Areshidze is that rare author who is both memoirist and observer. As a participant in Georgian politics before the Rose Revolution and a Western-educated political scientist, Areshidze puts the "politics" back into Georgia's fascinating tale of democratic mobilization and regime change. Areshidze is a critic of Georgia's old regime and its new one, and he pulls no punches. As such, his account sets a valuable baseline for debate regarding political reform in Georgia and, indeed, the trajectory and pace of post-Communist transition throughout the Eurasian space." -- Cory Welt