ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the key factors shaping Georgia's foreign policy choices, and especially the historical, political, strategic, economic, and moral considerations that determined the country's orientation towards integration into Western politico-military institutions. It describes Georgian perceptions of Russian and Western that is US and EU, interests in the region and reviews the first failed attempts to accommodate Russia's interests in Georgia, in the hope of restoring the country's territorial integrity. The chapter examines the conditions that led to Georgia's disillusionment with Russia, from the "Rose Revolution" to the events of August 2008, when Moscow and Tbilisi embarked on a brief, albeit consequential war. The Russia-Georgia war in August 2008 introduced several new dilemmas in the shaping of Georgian domestic and foreign policy. The Russian war also delivered a significant blow to the US influence and credibility in the region and was the main source of concern in Central and Eastern Europe.
