Saakashvili as Odessa governor.

• Author: Shlapentokh, Dimitry
• Position: Mikheil Saakashvili and Odessa, Ukraine

Similar to that of other turbulent periods in world history, post-Soviet realities demonstrated an almost similar political narrative. In Georgia, the fate of Mikheil Saakashvili started out as one of the most bizarre. Charismatic and quite popular in the beginning of his tenure as a leader of a small post-Soviet republic, he not only lost his power and became an outcast but actually lost his Georgian citizenship to become governor in Odessa, Ukraine. The current leader of Ukraine are certainly different from Saakashvili. Still, they share with him one important trait: they believe that an easy solution could be found in just a replacement of a "wrong" person by a "good" one.

Similar to most republics of the former USSR, Georgia believed that its problems, mostly the sharp economic decline that marked the end of Gorbachev's tenure, were due to the Russian/Soviet presence. Independence should immediately have solved all of these problems. The result, however, was the opposite; and Georgia lapsed into a long period of economic decline, civil war and ethnic strife. Still, the notion that socio-economic problems could be solved by the "right" leadership was still entrenched, and this led to the assent of Saakashvili who became president after the so-called "Orange Revolution."

Saakashvili seemed to be entirely different from previous Georgian leaders. He was educated at Columbia University and was fluent in many languages. He was married to a Dutch woman and had no connections with native Georgian clans. Upon becoming Georgian president, Saakashvili started to follow meticulously Western design plans for "transitional" societies. Corruption was one of the major targets; and, as one might state, Georgia was one of the most corrupt republics of the USSR. Saakashvili's success in this respect was unquestionable, acknowledged even by those who hardly could be regarded as his admirers. He demanded that government officials behave not as a privileged caste but as ordinary citizens. (During a visit to Georgia, I saw the cabinet minister stand in line with everybody else at the airport and subject to the same security check.)

While Saakashvili's fight against corruption was undoubtedly praised by the majority of Georgians, in itself it could not solve the problems of the Georgia economy. Georgia prosperity during the Soviet era was mostly due to Georgians' ability to send fruit, especially oranges, and tea to Russia. With increasing alienation from...