Annabel Deegan is a 2023 McCain Global Leader from the United Kingdom. She is a senior communications consultant and former executive editor for CNN International.
I’ve just returned from the 8th Tbilisi International Conference titled “2024: A Pivotal Year”. Here are my 10 key takeaways:
- Just weeks away from parliamentary elections, it’s clear that Georgia is facing a deeply challenging moment. At a reception in honour of participants, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said this moment is existential.
- Many Georgians here call the “foreign agent” law that sparked weeks of mass protests the “Russia law”. I’m told very few effected organisations (NGOs, independent media) have registered, indeed many refuse to. The deadline was earlier this week. One Georgian conference participant said they expect fines and arrests.
- What is also clear is that democratic values here run deep. There is no doubt that Georgia is Europe. And Europe is opening its doors (Georgia was granted candidate status in December 2023). Free and fair elections in October will be critical.
- What happens here in Georgia depends on what happens in Ukraine. Indeed the fate of democracy, in the face of rising global authoritarianism all over the world, depends on whether Ukraine prevails.
- In regards to Ukraine, many here agree that there has to be more of a mentality shift from avoiding escalation to victory.
- A good point of discussion – what do we really understand by an “international rules-based order”? And how do we answer that question through the lens of what is going on in Gaza following October 7th?
- The rise of extreme politics across Europe and elsewhere – are “boring centrists” partly to blame? In my view it’s not about being entertaining (and therefore potentially more attractive to voters), it’s about being able to communicate effectively using the power of compelling storytelling.
- China – one piece of analysis discussed here is that many in the West need to accept that the triangle often relied upon – China as a partner, China as a competitor and China as a systemic rival – the partner side of that triangle is getting very small.
- U.S. election Harris v Trump – with reproductive rights on the ballot, including access to fertility treatments (not just an issue for women by the way), we are on track for a historic voter gender divide.
- I am particularly struck by the resilience and fortitude of the Georgian women I’ve met here. Around the world, in times of oppression, it is often women – the mothers, the grandmothers, sisters, aunts and the “childless cat ladies” who say enough is enough and take a stand, often risking their lives in the process.
The 8th Tbilisi International Conference was led by The Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC), together with The McCain Institute and the George W Bush Institute.