Released to mark the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Georgia in August 2006. Russia's stance in Ukraine is not the first example of its post-Soviet aggressive foreign policy towards neighbouring countries.
This is the turbulent history of near-neighbour Georgia's past decade, through the prism of its most consequential citizen, President "Misha" Saakashvili. It tells how he engineered Georgia's peaceful Rose Revolution, reluctantly went to war with Russia, flirted with autocracy and secured the country's democratic future by conceding defeat in 2012 elections. The story of the transformation of an authoritarian, corruption-ridden post-Soviet basket case into what the United States called a "beacon of liberty" widely feted for its sweeping reforms, economic transparency and ambitions to join NATO and the European Union.
Based on hours of discussion with Saakashvili and interviews with his advisors and fellow travellers, and with interviews with recently retired American and Georgian officials, the story of Georgia and its leader, Mikhail "Misha" Saakashvili, holds lessons for nations in transition across the globe.
