Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili painted a picture of Georgia`s economic and political liberalization in the past five years last night during a talk at the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics.
`There is no way back to the Soviet Union,` Saakahsvili said, adding that Georgia has instead embarked on a transformative journey by embracing democratic reforms and economic openness. `There is no way out other than total social transformation and integration into Western society.`
In his address entitled `Georgia and Black Sea Security,` Saakashvili expanded the concept of national security to incorporate the relationship between security, democracy, and legal systems. Though he touched on the issue of Georgia-Russia relations in light of the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008, he said that military strength alone would not ensure security for his country.
`Security cannot be separated from democracy,` Saakashvili said. `There is no true security where you cannot rely on the rule of law.` He continued, `Having good elections, and enhancing democratic elections...[is] what makes Georgia more secure`.
`Governments are not smarter than markets,` Saakashvili said. `Our experience has been that with less intervention in the economy, there has been more energy.`
Georgia is now taking a path radically different from that of its past, Saakashvili said at the end of his address. `We are speaking about a long process,` the president said, `but our people will not accept regression.
Students who attended the speech said they were surprised and impressed by Georgia's commitment to modernization.
