America needs reliable allies that make significant contributions to regional security. Georgia is one such important ally with a stellar track record in allied operations and its regional role can be further enhanced – reads the article published by The Hill with the headline “America needs reliable allies like Georgia.”
According to the article, “America’s allies in crucial locations perform vital tasks in providing security support that reduce the need for large-scale U.S. troop deployments. Georgia can help fulfill this role in the volatile region between South East Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. It is the key state in the South Caucasus and sits astride the Black Sea, which Moscow uses as a launchpad to project military power toward the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean.”
A Russian stranglehold over the Black Sea and Caucasus would challenge the security of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria and NATO aspirants Georgia and Ukraine. It also threatens energy supplies to Europe from the Caspian Basin and transportation and trade routes between Europe and Asia that bypass Russian territory. Some of the major energy pipelines and rail links transit Georgia to European markets.
Georgia is named as one of the main contributors to the international and NATO-led peacekeeping missions.
“Georgia is already making an outsized contribution in the global campaign against terrorism. It was the largest non-NATO troop contributor to ISAF in Afghanistan and the follow-on Resolute Support mission that trains and assists Afghan forces. Georgia suffered the most casualties among Allied troops in Afghanistan on a per capita basis. It also offered its territory, infrastructure and logistics capabilities for the transit of NATO forces and cargo and has modernized key airports and port facilities,” as The Hill writes.
Author of the article writes that the next important step would be to upgrade the U.S.-Georgia strategic partnership and generate renewed impetus for Georgia’s NATO membership.
“In addition to its pivotal strategic role, its staunch trans-Atlanticism and its resistance to Russian imperialism, Georgia serves as a regional political role model and an alternative to Muscovite authoritarianism. It is a parliamentary democracy that has free elections, a vibrant civil society and an attractive investment climate. With more concrete security assistance, Georgia could better defend itself from Russia’s attacks, strengthen its democracy and bolster America’s regional alliances,” reads the article.
