The last two years have been turbulent ones in Georgia. After mass protests against the government began in November 2024, hundreds were detained and reporting torture in custody. The authorities unleashed a first world war chemical weapon against their own people. And then they got to work dismantling democracy.
Criminal penalties for foreign-funded organisations, opposition parties banned, universities gutted, journalists imprisoned.
Robin Forestier-Walker, a journalist based in Tbilisi, has been charting this rapid descent into authoritarianism from the inside. As friends and colleagues are targeted, he’s wondering whether it’s time to pack up his family and say goodbye.
Topics covered:
Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+
For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.
Music by Blue Dot and Epidemic.
Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts
","author_name":"The Economist"}