Director, Illia Chavchavadze Center for
Constitutionalism and Legal Policy Studies
Senior Fellow
Research
areas:
Georgian politics;
US-Russian relations; strategic studies in Caucasus and Central Asia; US
politics (state and national); US foreign policy; national security; political
philosophy; constitutionalism; federalism; human rights; liberal education.
Biography:
One of the world’s leading expert on the politics in the former Soviet
Republic of Georgia and a scholar of political philosophy and
constitutionalism, Irakly Areshidze is a Visiting Fellow and Editor of Georgia
Outlook at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of Johns Hopkins University-Nitze
School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC, USA.
Concurrently, he is Director of the Chavchavadze Center for Study of
Constitutionalism and Law and Fellow in National Security Studies at the
Partnership for Social Initiatives (PSI), a Tbilisi-based think tank dedicated
to advancement the values of republican government.
In addition to the political developments in Georgia and the Caucasus, and
U.S. policy towards the Caspian region, Areshidze’s scholarly interests
include U.S.-Russia relations; human rights; the post-Communist transition
(especially questions of economic liberalization and corruption); US policy
toward Europe and NATO; ancient, modern, and post-modern political philosophy;
constitutionalism; and liberal education. Areshidze writes regularly on these
issues in foreign and Georgian media, including through a by-weekly column in
the newspaper “24
Hours.”
As part of his activities at PSI, Areshidze leads an initiative to develop a
new constitutional model for Georgia which will promote democratic
self-government. He serves as advisor to a number of Georgian political
leaders, including various members of the Parliament and the legislature’s
Committee on Defense and National Security. Active in promoting the free
market in Georgia, Areshidze serves as Board Member of the Georgian Alliance
for Business Environment Development (ABED), a coalition of over
70
business and professional associations and businesses.
As a high honors graduate of Middlebury College, in Middlebury, Vermont, USA,
where he wrote his thesis on the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and
received the Jarrett Prize in Political Science, Areshidze is one of the
leading advocates of higher education reform in Georgia. He serves on the
Board of Directors of the Liberal Education Society (LES) and is one of the
founders of the Georgian Collegiate Consortium (GCC), non-governmental
organizations striving to establish in Georgia a liberal arts undergraduate
institution.
Contact Information:
