Representation at the Inter-Parliamentary Union: Sahiba Gafarova’s Bid for the Presidency
By Simona Scotti
The region of Central Asia and the Caucasus has never been represented at the helm of the Inter-Parliamentary union. This year, however, this could change. Azerbaijan’s Speaker of Parliament, Sahiba Gafarova, is making a bid for the presidency. Aside from being the first person from the region at the position, she would also be only the fourth woman to have this prestigious role. Building on her national profile as well as numerous international engagements, Gafarova has also applied parliamentary diplomacy with her counterpart in Armenia.
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How Russia Won the Hybrid War in Georgia — and What the West Got Wrong
By David Dondua
The August 2008 Russo-Georgian war achieved less than Moscow had hoped. Russia seized 18 per cent of the country's territory, areas it had already controlled since the early 1990s, but failed to alter Georgia's strategic direction. What military force could not achieve, Moscow pursued through other means — disinformation, economic leverage, elite capture, and a sustained cognitive campaign targeting Georgian society's deepest cultural anxieties. Over the following decade and a half, these tools proved far more effective than tanks. Yet Moscow's campaign found the ground partly prepared for it. Western partners, through a series of miscalculations, inadvertently made the cognitive campaign easier to wage. Understanding what went wrong and why is essential not only for Georgia's future but also for every country facing Russian hybrid warfare.
Georgia’s Technology Export Sector: Growth Drivers and Structural Constraints
By Giorgi Tsikolia
In 2025, Georgia’s information technology sector generated $1.15 billion in export revenue—a 67 percent increase year-on-year and more than a thirteen-fold rise from the sector’s 2017 baseline.[1] This paper traces the policy, diplomatic, and private-sector decisions that produced that outcome. It then examines three constraints—labor market restrictions on foreign workers, the absence of government as a technology customer, and Georgia’s exclusion from U.S.-led AI infrastructure investment—that directly affect whether the sector’s growth continues.
[1] National Bank of Georgia, Statistics Portal, https://nbg.gov.ge/en/statistics
The Wakhan Corridor’s Increasing Role in Central Asia- Afghanistan-China Interaction
By Nargiza Umarova
This article addresses the geopolitical and economic dynamics surrounding the development of the Wakhan Corridor as a potential trade route connecting Afghanistan and China through the high-altitude Wakhjir Pass. It highlights the Wakhan Corridor’s competitive advantages over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and analyses the risks and challenges posed by political instability, security threats, and infrastructural limitations in the region. It also examines China’s cautious stance, Tajikistan’s interest, and broader implications for regional connectivity. The primary objective is to evaluate the feasibility of the Wakhan Corridor, its comparative advantages over existing trade routes like CPEC, and its potential implications for regional connectivity. By examining these aspects, the paper seeks to analyze how the corridor could influence the geopolitical and economic landscape of Central Asia, Afghanistan, and China. In this context, the following analysis delves into the intricacies of the Wakhan Initiative, assessing its inherent risks and opportunities, while evaluating its potential for successful implementation.
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