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Historical Background on Georgia

Georgia has been a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country for centuries. Although tensions between ethnic groups have existed from time to time, the most recent armed conflicts between Georgians and Abkhazians and Georgians and South Ossetians were the worst in their history. The Republic of Georgia regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The subsequent declarations of independence by Abkhazia and South Ossetia (within the sovereign state of the Republic of Georgia) took place in the context of heightened Georgian nationalism and reactivated ethnic tensions between Georgians and these two other groups. The brutal wars that ensued killed many thousands and left the society in shock. Today, Abkhazia and South Ossetia remain outside the control of the Georgian government, and no permanent political settlement of these conflicts has been reached.

There are currently 300,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Georgia, out of a population of 5.3 million. Most are ethnic Georgians whose families lived, some for generations, in Abkhazia or South Ossetia. The wars drove them from their homes and they now live in hotels and other concentrated settlements, many near Tbilisi.

These IDPs have been deeply traumatized, their future remains uncertain, and their living conditions are precarious. Regardless of their previous status, many now suffer poverty and unemployment as well as other social problems. Their presence is a constant reminder of the ethnic conflict and keeps alive the tensions between the ethnic groups. Recent rapprochement attempts between Georgians and South Ossetians have revealed economic and psychological fault lines which deter active resettlement. The current economic challenges result in hesitation to reinvest psychologically and financially in their former communities.

Georgia is a society where ethnic conflict is intertwined with environmental, health, and economic concerns. Although the worst of the fighting has ended, the country has not recovered. Economically it is still struggling to build a new infrastructure. Stabilizing this part of the world has far-reaching importance because Georgia is a leading candidate for the routing of pipelines from the Caspian oilfields. The development of these pipelines will have a profound impact on the global economy, but as Julian Lee of the London-based Center for Global Energy Studies describes, the proposed pipelines are hostages to potential ethnic conflict (USA Today, Oct. 30, 1997, P. 11A). A U.S. Deputy Secretary of State adds that this region could become a breeding ground for terrorism, a hotbed of religious and political extremism, and a battleground for outright war. (USA Today, Oct. 30, 1997, p. 11A).

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