Georgia’s Democratic Promise and Crisis: Institutions, Law, and Civic Resistance

The Harvard European Law Association is pleased to host a lunch talk on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, from 12:15 to 13:20 at Harvard Law School, WCC B010 (Singer Classroom) on “Georgia’s Democratic Promise and Crisis: Institutions, Law, and Civic Resistance“. Since regaining independence in 1991, Georgia has been regarded as one of the most promising democratic reformers in the post-Soviet region. Nearly three decades later, Georgia is experiencing significant political and institutional strain. Recent legislative developments, tensions between governing institutions, and large-scale public protests have raised concerns about the resilience of democratic safeguards, and the future of the country’s development.

Grzegorz Ekiert is Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government at Harvard University, director of the university’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, resident faculty at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, and senior scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. His research and teaching interests focus on comparative politics, regime change and democratization, civil society and social movements and East European politics and societies. His papers have appeared in numerous social science journals in the US, Europe and Asia and in many edited volumes.

Ana Natsvlishvili is an award-winning human rights and policy expert, with over 15 years of experience in designing and implementing human rights and justice sector research and monitoring, advocacy and litigation, policy reforms and oversight. She has served as a chair of Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), Representative to the Parliament to the 4th President of Georgia and a member of the Parliament of Georgia (2020-2024).

Mark Dietrich is the Vice President of the East-West Management Institute (EWMI), a New York based not-for-profit organization that implemented rule of law and civil society strengthening projects in Georgia from 2010 – 2025, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Mr. Dietrich has implemented, designed and directed rule of law programs around the world since 1993, including in Albania, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Liberia, Romania, Russia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Mr. Dietrich is also President of the Alliance for American Rule of Law (AAROL), a new organization dedicated to protecting the rule of law in the United States, and is a member of the New York Bar.

The discussion will be moderated by Nana Kruashvili, LL.M. ’26, Harvard Law School.

Organizers: This event is co-hosted by the Harvard European Law Association and supported by the Program on Georgian Studies at the Davis Center, Harvard University

Harvard Law School, WCC B010