How can we explain a stronger pro-Russian and weaker pro-European sentiment in Georgia’s peripheral regions compared to the national average? This brief essay combines quantitative data from public opinion polls with my qualitative research in the villages along the de facto border/occupation line of South Ossetia to explain the geopolitical outlook of the peripheral region.
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This issue looks at Georgia in the run-up to parliamentary elections scheduled for 26 October 2024. First, Koba Turmanidze describes the preferences of the Georgian electorate based on representative public opinion polls. Tatia Tavkhelidze then goes on to analyse the key contentious issue in Georgian pre-election politics, the foreign agent law. The remaining three contributions analyse pre-election debates. Lia Tsuladze describes the discoursive strategy of the ruling political elites vis-à-vis the domestic opposition and the European Union. Ekaterine Basilaia analyses the reporting of two major TV broadcasters and, finally, Tamar Qeburia comments on the anti-colonialism discourse in Georgia.
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