The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) intends to "expand" the rights of voters in Georgia and "prepare" future political leaders.

The grant, which RT has read the text, the agency plans to implement within the framework of the program "Support for the electoral and political processes of Georgia through direct contracts with civil society organizations of the country (2019-2023)". Thus, the duration of the program includes 2020, when parliamentary elections will be held in the country.

In total, USAID is ready to allocate $ 4-5 million over 42 months for these projects to Georgian organizations.

The stated USAID goal is to “increase the degree of representation and observance of the whole variety of interests of Georgian citizens”. In the US agency believe that during the presidential election in 2018, leading candidates used the “alarming” techniques. The OSCE mission stated that the election campaign was overshadowed by "harsh and aggressive rhetoric", and one of the parties took advantage of the use of administrative resources.

“However, in the opinion of many experts who followed the elections and the country's policy as a whole, during the race both parties resorted to means that“ alerted ”and indicated that a“ step backward ”was being taken. In particular, according to representatives of the OSCE election observation mission, the election campaign was overshadowed by “harsh and sometimes aggressive rhetoric”, and “one of the parties gained an unfair advantage” due to abuse of administrative resources, ”the report says.

  • President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili
  • Reuters
  • © Irakli Gedenidze

In the presidential election, which took place in Georgia on November 28, Salome Zurabishvili won. Following the second round, she won nearly 60% of the vote, becoming the first female president of Georgia. At the US State Department, congratulating her on her victory, pointed out violations during the elections.

According to Washington, Zarabishvili enjoyed administrative support, thanks to the support of the Georgian Dream Party. This political force won the 2016 parliamentary elections.

For the United States, it is common practice to interfere in the political processes of other countries, said Vladimir Bruter, a representative of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies.

“This is a traditional position for the United States, they intervene in elections in all countries that allow them to do it and try to do it in those where they are not allowed to. Georgia in this case allows ... They want the opposition to be more dependent on them ... The position to divide and control is the traditional position for Washington’s relations with such small and not very strong countries like Georgia, ”said Bruter in an interview with RT.

Traditional intervention

At the same time, the States themselves openly declare what goals they are pursuing in Georgia.

Thus, according to the Strategy for Cooperation for the Development of Georgia, published in 2013, the excerpts of which are given in the document, its main goal is to strengthen the West’s democracy and transformation in the country. It is worth noting that on February 11, 2019, this strategy was expanded to 2020 fiscal year.

“The main objective of the Development Cooperation Strategy of the country is to maintain and strengthen democracy, free market and transformation oriented towards the West in Georgia,” the strategy text says.

Political analyst Alexander Asafov, in an interview with RT, recalled that the United States has been engaged in the implementation of such a strategy, called public diplomacy, since the beginning of the 20th century.

“It used to be called cultural diplomacy, but then it took these forms. And this very “public diplomacy” is called intervention in internal sovereign affairs, retraining of specialists, allocation of funds through funds and organizations, such investments in the spread of the American way of life. All these actions are fairly traditional for the United States. This is the fulfillment of its strategic objectives under the guise of spreading these values, democracy and the like is direct interference in the internal affairs of another country, ”said Asafov.

  • White House
  • Reuters
  • © Larry Downing

Youth as a tool for reform

Washington, according to the USAID program, also plans to “train” Georgian citizens to demand from political parties better representation of their interests, monitor election campaigns and publicize the results.

In addition, the United States intends to teach young people "principles of democratic governance" in the run-up to the parliamentary elections of 2024.

“This component of the program is intended to prepare the ground for young people who will form the next generation of political leaders, and also to give them the confidence, skills and means necessary for successful work as representatives of the interests of citizens of their age group. In addition, they are planned to teach the principles of democratic governance and the basics of youth leadership, ”the document says.

The desire of the United States to engage Georgian youth in politics is associated with a low standard of living and unemployment, said Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"American policy is characterized by staking on people who are not well prepared, to which young people belong ... The calculation is that while their political views have not taken shape and for the most part these views are abstract theoretical, for young people there is a passion for different ideas ... Therefore, it seems to me Americans are interested in such a selection of people ... with a lack of critical perception of reality, ”Olenchenko said in an interview with RT.

It is not the first time that the West is trying to influence young people and is choosing this category as its followers. For example, the CampCamp seminar was organized in Yerevan by the Prague Civil Center (Prague Civil Society Center). Within the framework of the forum, several trainings were held to promote protest sentiments to the masses.

In turn, it is worth recalling that PCSI receives funding from the United States under the law of August 2, 2017, HR 3,364, On Countering America's Opponents through Sanctions (CAATSA). The 254th article of this document spelled out funding for “countering Russian influence” in the amount of $ 250,000 for 2018 and 2019.

Years of experience

This is not the first project that USAID is implementing in Georgia. In November 2018, it became known that Washington would allocate $ 18.5 million to Georgian non-governmental organizations for economic development. According to the same USAID, about 20% of the population of Georgia are below the poverty line and live on $ 2.5 per day and progress, according to the agency, is allegedly hampered by Russia, of course.

“Economic challenges are exacerbated by Russian propaganda, which aims to undermine support for European integration and orientation to the West,” the document says.

USAID has been working in Georgia since 1992, during which time the agency spent over $ 1.8 billion on projects.

Political analyst Igor Gvritishvili, in a conversation with RT, noted that the US allocation of funds for new projects in the amount of $ 4-5 million will not have a significant impact.

“When the USA is unhappy with something ... they start raising new political forces, backing it up with monetary influences. But in this case, it seems to me, these are too small amounts to somehow change the balance of political forces in Georgia, ”Gvritishvili said.

According to political analyst Alexander Asafov, similar scenarios implemented by Washington are observed in many countries.

“We see how the popular scenario of the color revolution is trying to apply in a large number of countries. The latest example is Venezuela. Also Serbia, Zimbabwe. Completely different countries on different parts of the globe, ”the expert added.