In this conversation with Jacob Heilbrunn, Eka Tkeshelashvili—former Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia and senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund—offers a strategic reading of Russia’s trajectory from 2008 to today.
She argues that the war against Georgia was not an isolated conflict, but Putin’s first “test run” — a calibrated experiment in using force against a sovereign neighbor while assessing Western resolve. Ukraine, she explains, represents the continuation and escalation of that imperial logic.
She also examines Putin’s ideological framework, including his rehabilitation of Stalin as a symbol of centralized, unchecked power. For her, the war in Ukraine is not merely territorial — it is a deliberate attempt to erase Ukrainian nationhood itself.
Finally, she urges the United States to adopt a clearer and more coherent strategy in the Black Sea region, warning that strategic ambiguity only creates space for Moscow to expand its influence.
Putin’s Imperial Strategy Through the Eyes of Eka Tkeshelashvili
by
March 2026
Recent Articles
If the Iranian Regime Survives: What Must Be Done to Remove the Threat
Sadly, the present combination of power players in Tehran seems intent on staying in power: after all, if they were to face the full force of their people’s frustration, they are likely to end up decorating the city’s lampposts and crans – hence their tenacious and brutal grip on the tools of repression. The cracks […]
Achievements in Operation Roaring Lion
The April 8 ceasefire between Iran, the United and Israel provides an opportunity to take stock of the degradation to Iran’s core capabilities following more than five weeks of sustained airstrikes by the Israeli and American air forces, and Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Israel, US bases in the Gulf, and Gulf countries themselves. Recent […]
Crimea: Russia cannot secure it, Ukraine cannot liberate it, the West is losing interest
Russia seized Crimea in 2014 and has held it since. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was supposed to consolidate that position. Instead, it transformed Crimea from a strategic asset into a liability — contested, costly, and increasingly difficult to defend. Before 2022, Kyiv sought to reclaim Crimea through diplomatic means. There was no […]
