Events

On 10 June, 2021, the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Ilia State University and Poezia Press will hold an online launch of the Georgian translation of “Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus” by Timothy Snyder.

About the Publication

"Reconstruction of Nations" tells the story of how history has influenced the formation of modern Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus. What path did they take? What decisions were made and how? Why did they fight with each other and with others? How did they reconcile? How did they foresee the future? These are important questions for the formation of all modern nation-states, and their fate and future depend largely on what answers are given.

It is especially important for Georgia to view the history of our friendly nations from this angle. What conclusions and lessons should our country draw?

Agenda

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Moderator: Prof. Alexander Mikaberidze

Greetings:

• Prof. Giga Zedania, Rector of the Ilia University
• Dr. Stefan Meister, Head of Office, Heinrich Boell Foundation, South Caucasus
• Ms. Nato Alhazishvili, Publisher

Key-note speaker: Prof. Timothy Snyder, author of the book

The speakers will present key arguments of the book and a history of receptions and will discuss their relevance for Georgia and smaller post-Soviet states.

Themes to be discussed by the speakers:

• Poland’s “Eastern Policy” enabled it not only to achieve peace with its neighbors, but also facilitated its own European aspirations. What connects this policy of nation-building and rebirth of the Polish nation of the 1990s to the Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiated by Poland and Sweden? How Poland saw its role in the EU at the time and how it is today? How was it possible that memories of 'glorious past' did not prevent the path of the future? What lessons can Georgia’s political class draw from this?– H.E. Mr. Mariusz Maszkiewicz, Ambassador of Poland to Georgia.
• Lithuania has been able to navigate the post-independence choppy waters to emerge as a member of the EU and NATO. While the international situation was quite different then, the process of nation-building by a small country in a difficult neighborhood contains lessons that are still relevant today. What enables Lithuania to ‘manage’ its memory politics to maintain peaceful development? How do historians remain historians? How can Georgia’s European aspirations be viewed in the context of nation-building and internal conflicts? – Prof. Violeta Davoliute, Vilnius University.
• Georgia is one of the nations ‘divided by its past’ – diverging memories of what happened in the last 100 years still feed the conflicts inside the recognized borders of Georgia. What are the roles of historians and politicians in this process? Is it possible to “leave history to historians” as Poles and their neighbors were able to do and move on politically? What are the key patterns and obstacles of Georgia’s post-Soviet nation-building? What obstacles do the internal conflicts create for Georgia’s European aspirations? –Mr. Giorgi Kandelaki (a Georgian politician, former MP).
•  South Caucasus as a region, also suffers from the consequences of “memory politics”. How did the process of nation-building and strengthened nationalism reinforce each other? How can nations escape this vicious circle? What different approach is needed to rethink memory politics and its instrumentalization? What lessons does “The Reconstruction of Nations” contain for the countries of South Caucasus? Is there a particular role for Georgia to play? – Dr. Beka Kobakhidze, Associate Professor, Ilia State University.

Time: 10 June 2021, 19:00

Format: Online, Zoom, and Facebook Live

Languages: Georgian, English

Meeting link: https://bit.ly/3ciZRUh

Meeting ID: 858 7559 5022

Passcode: 263105

2021