International Forum for Democratic Studies Research Council Member

Ghia Nodia

Ilia Chavchavadze State University (Georgia)

Ghia Nodia is professor of politics and director of the International School of Caucasus Studies in Ilia Chavchavadze State University in Tbilisi, Georgia. He is also a founder of the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD), an independent public policy think tank in Tbilisi, Georgia and member of the Forum’s NDRI think tank network, which he has led since August 2009 and in 1992-2008. In February–December 2008, he served as the minister for education and science of Georgia.

Prof. Nodia has published extensively on democratization; state-building, security, and conflicts in Georgia and the Caucasus; theories of nationalism; and democratic transition in the post-cold-War context. He has been involved in pro-democracy advocacy efforts in Georgia and internationally and has been a frequent participant of international congresses and conferences on related topics.

His publications include a co-authored book with Alvaro Pinto Scholtach, The Political Landscape in Georgia. Political Parties: Achievements, Challenges, and Prospects (Delf Holland, Eburon Delft, 2006), and articles “External Factors in Democratization: Lessons from the Georgian Experience” in Nicolas Hayoz, Leszek Jesien, Daniela Koleva eds., 20 years after Communism: Expectations, Achievements and Disillusions of 1989 (Peter Lang: Bern, Berlin 2011), and in “The Record of the Rose Revolution: mixed but still impressive” in Vichen Cheterian, ed., From Peresroika to Rainbow Revolutions: Reform and Revolution after Socialism, (Hurst and Co: London, 2013).

Forum Publications

“External Influences and Democratization: The Revenge of Geopolitics,” Journal of Democracy (Oct. 2014)

“The Role of Democracy Research Organizations in Georgia,” Democracy Think Tanks in Action, Network of Democracy Research Institutes (June 2013)

“Twenty Years of Post-Communism: Freedom and the State,” Journal of Democracy (Jan. 2010)

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