U.S.-Based Pundit’s Visit Captures Attention of Press, Officials

The Georgian leadership’s decision to meet with political analyst Nikolai Zlobin, a director of the Russia and Eurasia Project at the World Security Institute, has increased the profile of his five-day visit to Georgia, the Georgian press wrote on January 30.

The Georgian daily 24 Saati (24 Hours) said that the U.S.-based Russian pundit’s visit captured the interest not only of Georgian academic circles, but also of the country’s leadership as Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze, Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli and Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili met with him.

Political analyst Ghia Nodia of the Tbilisi-based think-tank Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) told 24 Saati that Zlobin is affiliated with the American Democratic Party.

“The Georgian leadership understands that a new force may come to the White House, so it is now necessary to build new bridges with the Democrats,” Ghia Nodia said.

Another Tbilisi-based analyst Davit Aprasidze, who also met with the U.S.-based pundit, said although there was an interesting discussion with Zlobin, his “political theory is often very contradictory, which does not match with concrete, actual facts.”

“His information is often outdated and his conclusions are not appropriate to the real situation on the ground,” Aprasidze told the 24 Saati.

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