(rferl.org) While not as dramatic as last year's parliamentary elections, Georgia's October 27 presidential polls are a milestone in the country's transition to a parliamentary republic. Although the presidency will have reduced powers under constitutional amendments adopted in 2010, a slate of 23 candidates will contest the office.
Washington-based analysts Thomas De Waal and Laura Linderman will join Tbilisi-based political analyst Ghia Nodia and Salome Asatiani of RFE/RL's Georgian Service for a live discussion of the vote. It will be moderated by RFE/RL's Brian Whitmore. (Thursday, October 24, 2013
11 am (Washington, DC) / 5 pm (Prague) / 7 pm (Tbilisi))
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Thomas de Waal
- is a senior associate in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing primarily in
the South Caucasus region and its unresolved conflicts - Abkhazia,
Nagorno Karabakh, and South Ossetia - as well as in the wider Black Sea
region. De Waal is the author of "The Caucasus: An Introduction"
(Oxford University Press, 2010).
Laura Linderman - is the associate director of the Atlantic Council's Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, where she develops and shapes the Center's analytic and intellectual work on Georgia. A former Peace Corps volunteer in western Georgia, Linderman has co-authored articles on Georgian politics for the Atlantic Council and Foreign Policy.
Ghia Nodia - is the director of the International School of Caucasus Studies at Ilia State University in Tbilisi. A freelance contributor to RFE/RL's Georgian Service, Nodia served as Georgia's Minister of Education and Science from February to December 2008 and has published widely on issues of democratization, institution-building and nationalism in post-Communist countries.
Salome Asatiani - is a Prague-based broadcaster with RFE/RL's Georgian Service who has also covered Georgia for RFE/RL's Central Newsroom. Before becoming a journalist, Asatiani taught seminars at Tbilisi State University and worked as a DJ at a local rock radio station in Tbilisi.
Brian Whitmore - is Europe Desk Editor for RFE/RL's Central Newsroom in Prague and the writer of "The Power Vertical" blog
We invite you to post questions in advance and follow updates for live links to the Google+ Hangout on Twitter and Facebook.
Laura Linderman - is the associate director of the Atlantic Council's Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, where she develops and shapes the Center's analytic and intellectual work on Georgia. A former Peace Corps volunteer in western Georgia, Linderman has co-authored articles on Georgian politics for the Atlantic Council and Foreign Policy.
Ghia Nodia - is the director of the International School of Caucasus Studies at Ilia State University in Tbilisi. A freelance contributor to RFE/RL's Georgian Service, Nodia served as Georgia's Minister of Education and Science from February to December 2008 and has published widely on issues of democratization, institution-building and nationalism in post-Communist countries.
Salome Asatiani - is a Prague-based broadcaster with RFE/RL's Georgian Service who has also covered Georgia for RFE/RL's Central Newsroom. Before becoming a journalist, Asatiani taught seminars at Tbilisi State University and worked as a DJ at a local rock radio station in Tbilisi.
Brian Whitmore - is Europe Desk Editor for RFE/RL's Central Newsroom in Prague and the writer of "The Power Vertical" blog
We invite you to post questions in advance and follow updates for live links to the Google+ Hangout on Twitter and Facebook.
