Georgians at the crossroads: protests against authoritarianism and Russian influence

On Tuesday, May 14, Georgia’s ruling Dream Party passed the “Foreign Agents law,” threatening aspirations to join the European Union. The law became the catalyst for mass street protests in the country.

Aka Zarkua, Georgian journalist and Georgia Correspondent at Eurasianet and Alya Shandra, Editor in Chief of Euromaidan Press, discuss this historic moment for Georgia with Ursula Ruedenberg of Pacifica Radio’s Ukraine 242 program, to understand whether these protests can be compared to the 2014 Euromaidan Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine which resulted in a change of government. Alya and Aka talk over the realities of authoritarianism, the meaning of popular rebellion in post-Soviet countries, taking a deep dive into the big geopolitical story they are living firsthand.

For those that prefer reading, we have the text version too: “Story of a dying empire”: Georgia’s “foreign agent” law protests echo Ukraine’s Euromaidan

Ursula Ruedenberg is manager of Pacifica Radio’s Affiliate Network Division. She has been co-producing and distributing Ukraine 2 4 2 since the beginning of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine 2 4 2 is a weekly program featuring interviews with experts and key people on the ground in Ukraine and worldwide, responding to events and issues since the Russian invasion.

Ruedenberg also led the creation and on-air launch of KHOI Community Radio in Ames Iowa and served as the station manager and program director from 2011 to 2021. Prior to her work in radio, she worked as a public artist and directed a community-based mural program for the City of New York.

Pacifica Network is a global network of more than 200 community-based radio and Internet stations working for democracy. Their mission is providing independent programming and building cooperation between local independent grassroots media groups for network-wide content production, journalism, technology, and good management practices.

Pacifica Foundation established the concept of independent community radio in the United States in 1949 and led as a developer of independent journalism. It owns five radio stations, itself, in New York City, Washington DC, Houston, and Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The Pacifica Radio Archives is one of the most extensive and important historical sound archives in the United States.

For information about the network or network membership, please contact Ursula Ruedenberg at [email protected].

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