Fellows

Irakli Alasania, former Defense Minister of Georgia, discusses the future of his own country and links to US foreign policy

With experts in the form of academics and practitioners participating in The Search for a New Global Balance: America's Changing Role in the World, the latest session of Salzburg Global Seminar American Studies Association (SSASA), Irakli Alasania’s political experience and perspective as former Defense Minister of Georgia added to a well-rounded discussion.

Alasania, who heads the liberal Our Georgia – Free Democrats party in Georgia, was Georgia’s ambassador to UN when war between Georgia and Russia broke out in 2008. He was also Defense Minster of Georgia from 2012 to 2014, giving him experience in diplomacy, security, and conflict resolution.

In an interview with Salzburg Global, Alasania discussed Georgia’s current political climate, mentioning his country’s prospective NATO membership and a transition away from a Soviet path towards a European one. “To be part of the free liberal democratic societies is the only way Georgia feels we can secure our identity, [to] secure our development as an independent state,” he explained.

Alasania, who is gearing up for Georgia’s parliamentary elections in 2016, shared that although his country is developing a bilateral relationship with the United States, he would like to see more US involvement in the region. “We want to see on a more regional level, US involvement in the countering of resurgent Russia,” he explained. “It doesn't mean that we’re offering that the United States has to have the military deterrent on the ground in Georgia like US troops. We’re talking about providing Georgia, Ukraine, and other freedom-loving and aspiring states with the tools, even military tools as well, to defend our freedom from the aggressors.”

Much of the September session discussion centered around the global power balance, especially in relation to the future foreign policy of the United States, and the tension between an interventionist or isolationist strategy. Alasania touched on this tension between maintaining national interests as well as a global balance of power.

“I think domestically the United States is having legitimate debate over how much US power, soft or hard, can be extended and I think its a legitimate discussion,” he said. “But we have to insert into these discussions whether the US will be better served, from a security standpoint, from counterterrorism, [from a] counter insurgency standpoint.”

He expanded on this by saying that there is an obligation for countries like the US to lead, defend, and help those who are defending their own freedom. “I think that's the core value of the United States,” he said. “I think it's how it this country was established, and I see that these kind of values will be preserved and introduced in foreign policy as it was before."

Of the session itself, the former minister praised the open and comfortable setting: “What is most important is you are really creating the atmosphere where different opinions can be voiced without rancor, without bitterness, and in the atmosphere that will likely give us more food for thought.”

Irakli Alasania was a participant at the Salzburg Global Program The Search for a New Global Balance: America's Changing Role in the World, which was held by the Salzburg Global Seminar American Studies Association (SSASA). The 2015 session was hosted in partnership with the Roosevelt Study Centre. More information on the session can be found here: ssasa.SalzburgGlobal.org.