Originally published on 7 Oct 2025.

Protesters are trying to storm the Presidential Palace in Tbilisi, but why now? With the ruling party winning another decisive victory in local elections, what is truly fueling this unrest?To make sense of it all, today I’m talking again to my colleague and friend Lasha Kasradze, a geopolitical analyst and Liaison officer for Sokhumi State University in the United States.We dive into how Georgia’s government weathered intense foreign pressure, using its new transparency law to push back against outside influence. From there, we zoom out to the shifting fault lines in the region—Moldova’s turn towards the West and the strategic dismemberment of Armenia. We dissect Trump's ambitious Zangezur corridor plan, questioning if it’s a shrewd economic project or a militarized "poison pill" in disguise. Finally, we ask if sidelining Western meddling could, ironically, be the key to the South Caucasus's future stability.

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