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Georgia, a country of 3.6 million people which shares borders with Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, has historically been known as one of the most pro-West of the former Soviet states. 

Georgia has experienced cycles of democratic reform and institutional fragility since gaining independence in 1991. The Rose Revolution of 2003 ushered in a wave of modernization and Western integration under Mikheil Saakashvili, but it also centralized executive power.

Over the last decade, however, the ruling Georgian Dream Party founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili has consolidated authoritarian control. The last year in particular has marked steep democratic regression alongside Georgian Dream’s withdrawal from EU accession talks, despite multiple polls showing that more than three-quarters of Georgian residents favor joining the European Union.