The Fourth Annual Oxford-Georgia Forum

The Fourth Annual Oxford-Georgia Forum took place at St Antony’s College on 28 May 2025. The annual forum serves as a dynamic platform for fostering dialogue and advancing partnership initiatives between Georgia and the United Kingdom. Bringing together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, it draws on a broad range of academic disciplines, including political science, international relations, anthropology, sociology, history, literature, archaeology, cultural studies, economics, and business.

This year’s forum centred on Georgia’s ongoing political turmoil, the recent wave of public protests, and the evolving geopolitical landscape of the South Caucasus.

The forum opened with welcome remarks from Professor Paul Chaisty, Head of the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, Professor Roy Allison, Director of the Russian and Eurasian Studies Centre, and Professor Michael Rochlitz, Associate Professor at OSGA and Georgian Programme Coordinator.

Keynote Speech

Professor Marine Chitashvili from Tbilisi State University gave the keynote speech. She spoke on the impact of political protest on higher education and research in Georgia. Her address reflected on the growing pressures facing academic institutions and the ways in which the academic community is responding to a rapidly shifting political environment.

Panel 1: Protests, Civil Society, and Media Resilience

The first panel focused on Georgia’s turbulent political landscape, marked by contested elections, mass protests, and growing authoritarian tendencies.
Chaired by Professor Roy Allison, Director of the Russian and Eurasian Studies Centre, the discussion featured insights from:

  • Mariam Nikuradze (OC Media)
  • Dr Giorgi Cheishvili (Movement ‘Education is in Danger’)
  • Irine Kurtanidze (Queen Mary University)
  • Alexander Zibzibadze (Future Academy of Georgia)
  • Davit Jintcharadze (Freedom Fund), who shared perspectives from journalism, activism, and civil society.

Panel 2: Georgia’s Foreign Policy and the Role of International Actors

The second panel examined the implications of Georgian Dream’s recent anti-Western pivot for the country’s EU and NATO aspirations, set against the backdrop of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine.
Chaired by Dr Teona Giuashvili (LSE), the panel included:

The session highlighted tensions between Georgia’s strategic orientation and its domestic political developments.

Panel 3: Roundtable: The Future of Georgian Studies Abroad

The third panel brought together leading figures in Georgian Studies to discuss the future of the field abroad.

  • Professor Stephen Jones and Dr Natia Chankvetadze (Harvard University)
  • Professor Michael Rochlitz (Oxford), and Professor Marine Chitashvili (Tbilisi State University) reflected on both the opportunities and challenges facing Georgian Studies programmes in light of recent political developments, shifting institutional priorities, and the broader global context.

Panel 4: Studying Georgia

The fourth panel brought together researchers and graduate students whose work focuses on Georgia from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including political science, history, anthropology, and cultural studies.
Chaired by Professor Tamar Koplatadze (Oxford), the session featured presentations by:

  • Dr Giorgi Macharavashvili (Georgian Studies Fellow at Oxford)
  • Dr Tea Kamushadze (Georgian Studies Fellow at Oxford)
  • Gregorio Paz Iriarte (École normale supérieure – PSL)
  • Molly Walker (Harvard), Levan Tevdoradze (King’s College)
  • Mariam Vekua (UCL).

Summary and a play by the Oxford Georgian Translation Project

Additionally, the President of the Georgian Society at Oxford, Sophia Maisashvili, presented the summary of the activities of the Georgian Society at the University of Oxford.

The day concluded with a cultural programme presented by the Oxford Georgian Translation Project. Led by Lia Chokoshvili, and featuring Marcus Choo, Andrew McCann, and Giles Humphreys-Evans, the group staged a reading of Tamta Melashvili’s play The Dress.

9 June 2025