History Isn’t Over: Georgia’s Long Transition (An Interview with Tinatin Japaridze)

In the latest episode of Beyond the Scoop from the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, host Masha Udensiva-Brenner speaks with geopolitical analyst Tinatin Japaridze (MARS-REERS ’19) about Georgia’s democratic backsliding and the personal toll of watching it unfold from afar. Blending memoir and analysis, Tinatin reflects on her childhood in post-Soviet Georgia, her family’s displacement during the Georgian civil war, and her unexpected journey from music to geopolitics. As protests erupt in Tbilisi over the government’s pivot away from Europe, she explores how Soviet legacies, generational divides, and rising authoritarianism continue to shape the present.