BRATISLAVA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL of LIBERAL ARTS GEORGIA's EUROPEAI\T IDENTITY BACHELOR TIIESIS Bratislava 2010 David Babunashvil
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BRATISLAVA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS GEORGIA'S EUROPEAI\TIDENTITY BACHELOR TIIESIS Bratislava2010 David Babunashvili BRATISLAVA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS GEORGIA' S ET]ROPEAII IDENTITY BACHELOR THESIS StudyProgramme: Liberal Studies Fieldof Study:3. l. 6 Politology Advisor:M.A. Valer Lomuashvili Level of Qualification:Bachelor ("8c.") SubmissionDate: 5.5.2010 Dateof Defence:15.6.2010 Bratislava2010 David Babunashvili Babunashvili:Georgia's European Identity Author's Declaration of Originality I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this text. No part of this thesishas beenpreviously published or submittedfor publication.Primary and secondarysources usedin this thesisare cited in text and listed in "References".The thesiswas developed underthe guidanceof my thesisadvisor M.A. Valer Lomuashvili. David Babunashvili (signature): Dateof Birth: 18.03. 1987 Address:Heydukova23, Bratislava, 8l I 01, SlovakRepublic. nl Babunashvili:Georgia's European Identity ACKNOWTEDGEMENTS This thesiswould not have beenpossible without the essentialand gracioussupport of manyindividuals. My special thanks and acknowledgementsare for my thesis supervisor,Mr. Valer Lomuashvili,M.A. for greatly contributingto the conductedresearch. He was always there to listen and give advice.His timely and always useful advice,encouragement, leadership,guidance and freshideas allowed to mobilizeenergy and capacityin the best way possible. Also, I wish to extend my thanks to Mgr. Dagmar Kus6, PhD. for the extraordinary support she provided readily and open-heartedly,for the helpful commentsserving refinementof the writing style of my paperand for all her patiencethroughout the thesis preparationprocess. I am enormouslygrateful to BISLA and its professorsfor creating an atmosphereof supportduring a challengingprocess of preparationand presentation. I acknowledgesupport of the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the latest data collectionand in providingthe availableinformation. Last but not least, I especiallythank HE Mr. Nikoloz Nikolozishvili, Ambassador Extraordinaryand Plenipotentiaryof Georgiato the SlovakRepublic and the Republicof Slovenia (with residencein Bratislava) for generousand varied contributionsto the Thesis.He showedme different ways to approacha researchproblem and the needto be persistentto accomplishany goal. Bratislava,30. 4.2010 tv Babunashvili:Georgia's European Identity GEORGIA'S EUROPEAII IDENTITY DavidBabunashvili BratislavaInternational School of LiberalArts Thesisadvisor: M.A. ValerLomuashvili 36 pages;9,222 words ABSTRAIff David Babunashvili, vypracovanie bakaldrskej pr6ce na tdmu: Gruzfnska eur6pskaidentita na medzin6rodnejSkole v Bratislave slobodn;fchumeni, tritor: Valer LomuashviliMA, Bratislava2009, 36P str6n. Prhcaupozoriluje na koncepciueur6pskej identity, diskutuje hlavnd referendn6 body o eur6pskejidentity (krest'anstvo,kultfrnych vazieba spolodn;ichhodndt), a stavia paralelymedzi Eur6pou a Gruzfnskom. Prhcaodpoved a na nasledujtce otinky: io bolo zhzemiepre eur6pskea5pir6cie Gruzfnska?Akd sf vyhliadky pre Gruzinskodostat' sa bliZ5iek Eur6pe a spolodnej identityEuropskej fnie? Babunashvili:Georgia's European ldentity GEORGIA'S EUROPEAN IDENTITY DavidBabunashvili BratislavaInternational School of LiberalArts Thesisadvisor: M.A. Valer Lomuashvili 36 pages;9,222 words ABSTRACT David Babunashvili,elaboration of Bachelor'sthesis on the theme: Georgia's Europeanldentity at Bratislava InternationalSchool of Liberal Arts, Instructor: Valer LomuashviliM.A., Bratislava2009,36 pages. The work draws attentionon the conceptof Europeanldentity, discussesmajor referencepoints about Europeanidentity (Christianity, Cultural ties and Common values)and provides parallels between Europe and Georgia. The thesisanswers following questions:What was backgroundfor the European aspirationof Georgia?What are the prospectsfor Georgiato get closer to Europeand commonEuropean Union identity? vl Babunashvili:Georgia's European ldentity P r e f a c e Georgiais a small country locatedin the Caucasus.Its total areais about 70,000 sq.kmbut it has got about 3000 year-oldhistory of statehoodthat makesGeorgia part of an ancientcivilization (Mark, A. 2008.p.n.). For centuries,Georgia's geographic location and its neighbouringof powerful stateshad been source of attemptsto fragment and control the country. Through the history, Georgia had been a stumbling block to numerousTurkish, persian, Arab, Mongol, Roman,Byzantine and other conquerors.These empires passed away one by onewhile Georgiastill liveson developinga uniqueway of life of its own on thebasis of blendedeastern and westerntraditions. As an independentkingdom, Georgiawas the strongestpower duringthe reign of King David the Builderand QueenTamar in the I lth and l2th centuries.This period is consideredas Golden Era, or the Renaissanceof Georgia(Jones, S. 2009.p.n.). Main religion in Georgiais self-governing(autocephalous) Georgian Orthodox Church. Before acceptanceof Christianityby King Mirian in the 4th century A.D., Georgiawas subJectto the influenceof Greeceand Persiawhile still remainingas a Romanclient stateand an ally for severalcenturies but adoptionof the Christianreligion broughtGeorgia closer to the neighbouringByzantineEmpire promotingdeeper mutual cuftural relationship(Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church: Encyclopedia.2009. p.n.). The populationof presentGeorgia is 4.6 million, over 70% of them Georgians and the capitalcity Tbilisi (populationl.l million). The statelanguage of Georgiais Georgian and it belongs to the "Kartvelian" group of Iberia-Caucasianlanguages. Georgianis one of the oldestliving and written languagesin the world (oneout of only l4 written languages)(Makh aradze,Z. 2007. p.n.). Following legendwell describesGeorgia, its beautyand its people:Georgians were late when God was distributingthe Earthamong all peoplesof the world. When askedwhy they had not comeon time,the Georgiansreplied that they had stoppedon the vll Babunashvili:Georgia's European Identity way to drink in His honour. God was so pleasedwith the answer that He presented Georgianswith the piece of Earth that He had preservedfor himself. Hence,Georgia is calledthe Land of God or "God's sharecountry" (Mikaberidze, A.2009. p.n.). vllt Babunashvili:Georgia's European Identity -Contents Author's.Declaration of Originality......... .................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........... .............iv ABSTRAKT........ .............v ABSTRACT........ ............vi P re f a c e........... ...........vii Listof Acronyms............ ..............I 0 Introduction....... .............I I l. TheConcept of EuropeanIdentity ........ ............14 I . I Main componentsof constructionof Identity:Culture, Religion, Common Values ........t4 2. Georgia'sEuropean identity from a historicalpoint of view ........17 2.1 Influenceof Europeon the formationofthe ancientGeorgian kingdom............... l8 2.2 Culturalties between ancient Greece and Georgia........ .............20 2.3 The factorof Religionin Georgia'sorientation ........ ...22 3. Temporaryisolation from Europe .......25 3.1Muslim countries reign in Georgia........... ......25 3.2Russian subjugation ............26 3.3 Sovietlron Curtain........ ....27 3.4Attempts of escapingfrom the Sovietregime to unitewith Europe ........28 4. The prospectsfor Georgiato get closerto Europeand commonEuropean Union identity ..............30 4.1On the way to theEuropean values ................31 5.Conclusion....... ...........34 Resumd ............36 Bibliography ....44 References .......116 Babunashvili:Georgia's European Identity List of Acronyms B.C. - beforeChrist CoE - Councilof Europe DC FTA - Deepand ComprehensiveFree Trade Area EU- EuropeanUnion ENP- EuropeanNeighbourhood Policy Ex. - Example IO - InternationalOrganizations ISAF - InternationalSecurity Assistance Force MAP - MembershipAction Plan NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization p. - page WW2 - World War 2 l0 Introduction - lt is a difficult task to define the precise boundariesof Europe on the map. Unfortunately,there is no agreementon the criterion of the Europeanterritory. The Greeks,for example,who gavethe nameto Europe,had in mind someother territory (the Don and the Azov for them were no longer Europeand Britain for a long time was an island off the coast of Europe). There has been an ongoing constructionof European identity during the integration process within the EU. The problem of "European identity" has been increasingly felt in the EU, with deepening of the European integration.Since European integration increasingly touches upon the boundariesof state sovereignty,there has beena growing needto strengthenpeople's identification with the EU. According to the acceptedpractice, the notion of Europeanidentity containsthree major elements:cultural similarities,religious ties and commonvalues (Oner, S. 2006. p.n.). Fall of the iron curtain openedpossibility for many former communist-block countriesin Easternand Central Europe to join the EuropeanUnion. Whetherthis processof the EU-enlargementwill be a successor not, dependson the factor of Europeanidentity of candidatecountries (Pollack, D. 2000.p.n.). The main researchquestion of this studyis following: DoesGeorgia, on basisof its history, meet the above-mentionedconditions in order to be perceivedas a European state? Historically, Georgia has always been fighting to secure its place among the Europeannations rather than looking for integration into other regions as this is the continentwhere Georgia belongs to from its historicalbackground,