Although Ukraine has been at the center of the world’s attention in recent months, other post-Soviet countries are feeling the pressure from Russia’s outward push.
“We can’t talk about Ukraine and Georgia separately,” said David Usupashvili, chairman of the parliament of Georgia, at a speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 4. “We are interconnected and have the same challenges and opportunities.”
Usupashvili, a 1999 graduate of the master’s program in International Development Policy at Duke University, has served as chairman of the country’s parliament since 2012. Previously he was the chairman of Georgia’s Republican Party for seven years.
As a founding member of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, an NGO that promoted human rights and mobilized the Georgian population, Usupashvili played a critical role in the 2003 Rose Revolution. He was also involved in drafting Georgia’s constitution in 1993.
