By Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Georgia left the CIS during the five-day war with Russia in 2008 and has not taken part in integration processes of the former USSR territories since. Nonetheless, Georgian analysts reacted to the idea to form a network university and a common history book for the post-Soviet space announced in Moscow.
Many in Tbilisi consider the formation of the network university problematic in the context of no diplomatic relations and no visa-free regime, despite modern Internet technologies. Moreover, the break of political relations were followed by a loss of ties between analysts, except contacts at international platforms. Zurab Abashidze, Plenipotentiary Envoy of the Georgian Prime Minister for Relations with Russia, told Vestnik Kavkaza that he had met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin in Prague and discussed humanitarian problems, cultural and scientific relations. Although, in his words, “the problem of a network university was not raised at the talks.” It is worth noting that opening of the Tbilisi branch of the Moscow State University (MSU) was considered in 1995-1996, but President Eduard Shevardnaadze linked the problem with settlement of conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia within the framework of the balancing policy between Russia and Georgia, thinking for some reason that Russia needed the Tbilisi branch of the MSU more than Georgia did.
Liana Telia, a member of the section of foreign relations at the Ministry for Enlightenment, told Vestnik Kavkaza that “during the years of independence, not a single Georgian citizen was sent to the MSU or other Russian universities.” This does not mean that the MSU and other prestigious universities in Russia have no Georgian students, Georgian authorities have nothing to do with it. Most of such students are young Russian citizens.
Georgian historians were even more skeptical about the idea of a common history book. “I wonder how we will describe the war of 2008 in a common history book. The evaluation of those events is contradictory,” Mamuk Pagava, a candidate of history, told Vestnik Kavkaza. It will be hard to talk about older events. For instance, according to Georgian historians, “the Russian Empire annexed the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti in 1801, violating the Treaty of Georgiyevsk signed in 1783.” The decree of Alexander III was “an act of illegal aggression.” Russia has an absolutely different interpretation of events, pointing out the many-century-long strive of Georgian kings to gain support of Moscow and then St. Petersburg.
Many disputes are also caused by the Soviet period of history. Georgia insists that Russia annexed the Georgian Democratic Republic in 1921. Russian historians say that Georgian Bolsheviks headed by Joseph Stalin, Lavrentiy Beria and Sergo Ordzhonikidze were the ones to annex the republic and rule the communist empire for many years.
Vestnik Kavkaza asked how Germany and Poland or Germany and France managed to compose a common history book. Mamuka Pagava said: “It happened because one of the sides, Germany, admitted being wrong and put up with its defeat in the war and started developing a new national and state identity.” Indeed, history is one of the main components of national and state ideology or the national myth.
It is impossible to write a common history book for Georgia and Abkhazia because they have different interpretation of many-century-long historic events triggering the conflict. Russia and Georgia were developing together for a long period of history and their fates are historically interconnected. This invariable condition will sooner or later force analysts to hold a dialogue and find solutions in order to prevent future generations from inheriting conflicts and hostilities.
