In this October 29 interview, Alex Scrivener explains the political background and the high stakes in the October 26 parliamentary election, the allegations of extensive election fraud, and what could come next in this ongoing political crisis. Alex talks about the influence on the Georgian left and Georgian society today of the three-year independent democratic socialist government elected in Georgia in 1918, the first elected socialist government in the world. He criticizes the failure of loud parts of the Western left to be in solidarity with the victims of Russian imperialism in Georgia and Ukraine, which hurts the ability of the left in these countries to organize because the left in the West appears to support the rightwing authoritarianism that Russia that exports.

Alex Scrivener is the executive director at Democracy Security Institute. Based in Tbilisi, Georgia, Alex is responsible for the management and organizational strategy of the organization. A previous fellowship recipient of the Eurasia Democratic Security Network (EDSN), Alex is a long-time analyst of the region, with a special focus on the Caucasus. Alex has worked for a variety of international, civil society, and media organizations in Europe and the region, including the BBC, the International Criminal Court, Global Justice Now, and the Transnational Institute. His articles have been published in a variety of media including the Guardian, the Independent and Open Democracy.

A couple of recent articles by Alex on the situation in Georgia and Eastern Europe in the shadow of Russian imperialism.

Alex Scrivener, “It’s time for progressives to talk about tanks: In Russia’s former colonies, the hard security conversation is unavoidable, Foreign Policy in Focus, August 23, 2024.

Alex Scrivener, “The Other Georgia — How Russia Could Win,” Center for European Policy Analysis, May 30, 2024.