Before serving as Georgia’s ambassador to the United States, Canada and Mexico, Vasil… Before serving as Georgia’s ambassador to the United States, Canada and Mexico, Vasil Sikharulidze worked as a physician and psychiatrist. In his introduction of the ambassador to the crowd in Posvar Hall yesterday afternoon, director of the Center for Russian and East European Studies Robert Hayden pointed out the similarities between the ambassador’s past and that of another psychiatrist-turned-public-servant in attendance, Rep. Tim Murphy, who represents Pennsylvania’s 18th District. ‘That’s right,’ said Murphy, who received his doctorate in psychiatry from Pitt. ‘We’ll be doing group therapy today.’ It might have been a joke, but the lecture, titled ‘Georgia’s Place in a Changing World,’ was not unlike a therapy session as the ambassador spoke of the challenges facing the country: Russia’s bullying and Georgia’s quest to become part of the in-crowd through NATO membership. The lecture, jointly hosted by the Center for Russian and East European Studies, European Studies Center ‘amp; European Union Center of Excellence and the International Business Center of Pitt’s Center for International Studies, drew a crowd predominantly interested in Georgia’s relations with Russia in the wake of the latter’s invasion this summer and in Georgia’s’ continuing attempts to join NATO. After some brief historical background on the country, the bulk of Sikharulidze’s lecture addressed those issues and entertained additional questions from the audience. Georgia first gained its independence from Russia, which acquired the country in the early 19th century, in 1991. The country struggled for several years with the difficulties of establishing a new governing system, but the most significant changes began with the Rose Revolution in 2003. ‘A demonstration with no violence whatsoever,’ the Revolution made way for political reforms that are currently underway, said Sikharulidze. ‘The new government put forth a plan for reforms in the law enforcement sector, the defense sector, social sector and education sector,’ he said. ‘The goal was to have a smaller government which would impose fewer regulations on businesses in the private sector, and since then, 85 percent of regulations on business have been abolished.’ These reforms led to an increase in economic growth for Georgia, up 11 percent in both 2005 and 2007 and 8.5 percent in 2008, prior to the war with Russia. Sikharulidze also pointed to the success of the reforms in the defense sector, citing the Georgian contingents in NATO forces deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. ‘I have to now turn to the more negative part of Georgia’s modern history,’ said Sikharulidze.’ ‘Relations with Russia have been complicated since the ’90s, when Georgia declared our intention to work toward aligning ourselves with Western governments.’ As Russia began to loosen its hold on the country by allowing secession rights to small ethnic contingents, Georgia became more successful, said Sikharulidze. The relationship soured, a consequence made more expedient by growing animosity between the two countries. When Russia imposed economic sanctions on Georgia, it hoped to exploit the state’s dependence upon Russia’s economy to weaken it, but it achieved something else instead. ‘A very interesting thing happened,’ said Sikharulidze. ‘Instead of failing, Georgian businesses began to market outside the regular region and found success in Western markets.’ This unexpected victory strengthened Georgia’s resolve to move toward an alliance with Western economies and deepened the divide between Russia and Georgia. ‘They practically undermined every political process with regard to conflict negotiations and secession talks,’ said Sikharulidze. The conflict peaked this August with the deployment of Russian military into Georgia. ‘Thanks to efforts made by the free world, United States and the rest of the countries in the free world, they were not able to succeed in this operation,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We are very grateful to the U.S. and other states that took a strong stance against the aggression and then after the aggression introduced aid packages to help stabilize the economy,’ he continued. To address his country’s stance on the conflict with Russia, Sikharulidze said, ‘We of course won’t bow to this type of aggression and view integration into the North Atlantic alliance as a goal of ours.’ In terms of the status of its application to join NATO along with Ukraine, Sikharulidze is optimistic Georgia will be admitted, but unsure of how soon. Both countries have created NATO counsels to help advance the process toward membership, a move Sikharulidze cites as a demonstration of commitment and interest on the part of Georgia and Ukraine. Furthermore, he identified Georgia’s plans to establish an energy infrastructure independent of Russia’s as a selling point for NATO when considering the country for membership. ‘Right now the major energy infrastructure is owned by Russia,’ said Sikharulidze. ‘They are in possession of not only their own natural resources, but of other countries’ natural resources, and they are controlling the consumers and producers of alternative energy.’ Were Georgia to create an independent energy infrastructure, the country could supply Western regions on its own, instead of through Russia, which Sikharulidze said in the past has cut off pipelines. On the whole, Sikharulidze said Georgia’s acceptance into NATO is simply a matter of time, and his faith in the country’s future has been bolstered by its recent support. ‘I received lots of phone calls from friends,’ said Sikharulidze. ‘Sen. [Joe] Biden called the third, the day after the fighting erupted.’ ‘It was really important to see [Ukrainian] President [Victor] Yushchenko show solidarity with Georgia during the war and to hear President Bush and Secretary [Condoleezza] Rice pledge their support from the White House’s Rose Garden,’ he said.