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Podcast: Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters
Episode: The High Geopolitical Stakes of Georgia's Parliamentary Elections
Description: On October 26, the Republic of Georgia held parliamentary elections with immense geopolitical stakes. The former Soviet republic was once staunchly pro-Western and pro-European. But over the last several years, the country has drifted closer to Russia's orbit, largely due to one man: the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili. His Georgia Dream party has dominated Georgian politics for nearly a decade, and this rule has brought some democratic backsliding, including a new NGO law, modeled after a similar law in Russia, aimed at undermining civil society. However, the people of Georgia remain overwhelmingly pro-West and pro-European. So, this election was...