Opinion: 'Vance’s visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan shows failure of Georgia’s foreign policy'
Vance’s visit to the South Caucasus
Political analyst Gia Nodia comments on US Vice-President JD Vance’s visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan, which bypassed Georgia, calling it a failure of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s foreign policy.
JD Vance’s Caucasus tour began on 9 February, when the US vice-president arrived in Armenia with his wife and children. On 10 February, he travelled to Azerbaijan.
JD Vance became the most senior US official ever to visit Armenia.
He did not visit Georgia.
Gia Nodia said: “Vance’s visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan is the clearest evidence of the failure of Georgian Dream’s foreign policy.
“And it looks that way even if you view it through the lens of their own declared political principles.
“Let us recall how, after the start of the war in Ukraine, they justified their foreign policy through the principles of realpolitik. They claimed that pro-Western Georgians were naïve idealists who did not take the real balance of power into account. They said the West was not really helping Ukraine but trying to take advantage of it, that placing hopes in the West was a mistake, and that it was wiser to show loyalty to the aggressor to avoid direct confrontation.”
He said they argued that Donald Trump was distancing himself from Europe, rejecting policies based on norms and values in favour of realism and choosing an isolationist course. According to that logic, Georgia should try to find common ground with him while avoiding moves that might irritate Russia.
“On the surface — I stress, on the surface — this seemed quite rational. But Vance’s visit clearly shows that these calculations were wrong. Georgian Dream’s bet on Russia — even if one assumes it was driven by genuine national interests — has proved mistaken.
We have seen how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine weakened its position in the South Caucasus. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have oriented themselves much more towards the West. Meanwhile, Georgian Dream’s strategy has produced no results in winning Trump’s favour. On the contrary, ‘because of Trump’, Georgia is effectively losing its monopoly transit role.
This proves, among other things, that Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili is a geopolitical idiot.”
Vance’s visit to the South Caucasus
