Reading this delusional piece made me wonder: is this the same Mr. Ivanishvili who expects Vladimir Putin to fight corruption and bring about democratic reforms during his third and fourth terms? (Reuters:" Georgian tycoon takes on Saakashvili" October 17, 2011) This is the individual about whose potential rise in Georgia de Waal talks with delight? Why should anyone care if he is in fact a project of his own when he is clearly delusional? Georgia is full of silly people, de Waal, but not nearly enough to help him win anything. You need to do a real poll and not just ask your leftist Tbilisi "friends" and taxi chauffeurs.

But I suppose Ivanishvili's delusions mean nothing to some. Leftist, chronic Russia-sympathizers like de Waal will support just about anyone for the Georgian presidency, as long as he imposes a touchy-feely administration, the kind West Europeans had hoped for for years, to effectively put an end to Georgia's aggressive pro-NATO/US drive, and to put an end to its inconvenient complaints against Russia, which have annoyed and fallen on the deaf ears of de Waal and his ideological friends at Obama's Center for American Progress. But don't hold your breath, this new project of yours is going to fail, especially after our clown is thrown out of the White House in 2012.

I agree with your article and personally think that Georgians are tired of upheavals and want to be sure that if there is a change of regime, everything won't start from scratch again.

There are many professionals who need to keep their careers in travel or even a promotion would be good.

But the three reforms he is citing are relatively narrow but important ones. In particular the modernising the army, and cleaning up corruption in the police force and education system.

Ivanashvili is what Georgia needs. However his observation, that just by entering politics he has caused a sensation that is the talking point of all Georgia, is quite correct....Maestro this morning presents a rather disturbing reminder of the events that took place at Imedi. The real litmus test over the next few months will be media freedom....Thanks ! Seguro Imoveis Massagistas Acompanhantes Ar Condicionado Carro

Tom, please stop embarrassing yourself. I understand that to people who know next to nothing about the region (especially Georgia, which you looove to write about...) your ANOTHER peace of ... work... may seem truthful... AND unlike some other times you don't directly lie here...

however I must simply calm you down and those TOVARISCHI who pay some time to time (Oh, stop... we both know... you are not completely insane to do this over and over just for ... weird fun, right?)

Ivanishvili has murdered himself as a politician... after this interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJVAVghwfCY&feature=player_embedded

SOME people where interested... but instead of what was interesting or important it was an evening of psychoanalysis...

(Do not mind the THUMBS up on the video... that is ALL the support this man has left... but he still does have Money...But that's hardly enough without charisma and anything interesting to say...)

I may not like Saakashvili, but your motives are very clear to me and you are hiding them badly. (I've red your books and honestly they are total BS.)

In other words... get a real job Tom... really, stop pretending you know anything about Georgia or Caucasus at all.

Tbilisi weekly "Week's Palette" published an article about the mistress of President Mikhail Saakashvili. It is about six women in senior government positions and having sexy looks.
The undisputed number one in the list - Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. Vera Kobalia In the post it just a few months ...

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I have to thank Thomas de Waal for this great article. Article gives helpfull and unbias information.
Ivanishvili may not be the best presidential candidate, considering his relationship with Russia. However, it is great to have him as a oposition leader. President Saakashvili have done incredible things in Georgia but he could have done better having decent opposition.

What an embarrassingly dilettante attempt to analyse the complex political situation in Georgia. Unfortunately such oversimplification is characteristic of most Western Georgia watchers and de Waal is certainly no exception. This hapless ‘Caucasus expert’ apparently consults 10-12 people in Tbilisi to form an opinion on the on-going developments, including the recent emergence from philanthropic hibernation of the Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. De Waal makes no secret of his anti-Saakashvili bias throughout this travelogue entry (for it does not qualify to be called a serious piece of analysis) even though he tries to mask it with a smattering of overheard anecdotes. For instance, he does not mention the fact that the Georgian law prohibits dual citizenship. Exceptions are granted by the special orders issued by the President. In one of his lengthy letters to the public Ivanishvili admitted to having both Russian and French citizenships, which automatically annulled his Georgian citizenship and disqualified him from both participating in the parliamentary elections and forming a political party. It is true that the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church interfered on tycoon’s behalf to personally ask President Saakashvili to make an exception, but it remains to be seen whether this wish will be granted. De Waal misses the most important factor that distinguishes Ivanishvili from Saakashvili and his supporters. In some sense Ivanishvili is an ideological antithesis to Saakashvili in that the former gained public trust through generous charitable activities, whereas the latter consistently worked towards turning the country into a market economy. In an impoverished country it is relatively easy to de facto co-opt a sizeable segment of starving intelligentsia (or what’s left of it) by distributing ‘stipends’ to selected ‘worthy’ candidates. The publication of the full list of Ivanishvili’s ‘stipend’ recipients, by the way, resulted in a major public scandal recently, something that escaped de Waal as well. Ivanishvili’s first televised press conference was broadcast live nationwide on the Georgian Public Broadcasting Channel, which is state-owned. De Waal should be mindful of this fact when he nags about the restricted media space in Georgia. Throughout this chaotic press conference Ivanishvili did not offer anything specific and limited himself to demagogic personal demarches against Saakashvili. In a rare moment of introspection he did admit that he regretted not establishing any businesses in Georgia and instead focusing only on philanthropy. Only naïve may think that a Georgian businessman can amass $5.5 billion in Russia without some sort of tacit or explicit protection from the Russian government. This raises a whole host of questions about Ivanishvili’s trustworthiness and whether he is indeed ‘Kremlin’s last hope’ to topple Saakashvili’s pro-Western government. Alas, such basic inferences are lost on de Waal, who appears to be more preoccupied with foraging in the latest hearsay of his Tbilisi confidants than in trying to understand the situation by analysing facts on the ground. De Waal’s pathetic efforts deserve to be treated as such and FP’s reputation will undoubtedly improve if his laughable vignettes are relegated to Carnegie Endowment’s stale blogosphere.

The most important attitude of being a human is good in discipline and understanding that Georgia has its all. There is a chatty simplicity about him but also huge self-confidence and self-control. Miniclip / Friv | Friv Games. I think he can Mikheil Saakashvili as well who knows.

Georgians are desperate for change. However I agree with most of the comments above that think this will not happen.
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I remember one morning when I had a coffee with my wife in Georgia. After our breakfast, I saw news about this guy when I was running on one of the treadmills with TV that was available in the hotel. What can I say? It's ambitious but possible. Nowadays, things are really unpredictable, politics included. I have read some other news about Bidzina when I was reading several in a magazine. Anyway, we'll see what happens with Bidzina!

Even if you disagree with his politics or dislike his personality, the fact that Ivanishvili has brought new vibrancy to the opposition movement is good for Georgia. How can a country be truly democratic without a viable alternative for citizens to vote for. If Georgians believe Saakashvil and the UNM are the best option for Georgia's government, then let them seslichat choose them, by voting for them in a proper election. Suppressing the opposition, as the UNM have done consistently only suggests that perhaps there's a reason they don't want the Georgian people to have another choice in the upcoming election.

Even though you disagree together with his politics or dislike his personality, the truth that Ivanishvili has taken new vibrancy towards the opposition movement will work for Georgia. Just how can a rustic be truly democratic with no viable alternative for citizens to prefer. If Georgians believe muscle gain truth and also the UNM are the most useful choice for Georgia's government, then allow them to choose them, by voting on their behalf inside a proper election. Suppressing the opposition, because the UNM did consistently only shows that perhaps there is a reason they do not want the Georgian individuals to have another option within the upcoming election.

The person has his act together. When once to take advantage of increasing Latin American animosity toward the U.S., I suppose now's nearly as good a period every. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ended his tour from the politically and ideologically fragmented Latin American region on Friday using the muscle maximizer to forge stronger relations through various military, trade and initiatives. Russia is within deep trouble however their alliances are perfectly aligned to some model which will sustain them as long as they do not be a disruptive influence toward U.S. initiatives and the other way around.

The U.S.'s missile defense shield plans in Poland was an action of abject stupidity and supporting a psychological basket case like Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili proves that U.S. influence within the Caucasus region is weak and Latin America isn't faring much better.

Leftist, chronic Russia-sympathizers like de Waal will support just about anyone for the Georgian presidency, as long as he imposes a touchy-feely administration, the kind West Europeans had hoped for for years, to effectively put an end to Georgia's shingles symptoms aggressive pro-NATO/US drive, and to put an end to its inconvenient complaints against Russia, which have annoyed and fallen on the deaf ears of de Waal and his ideological friends at Obama's Center for American Progress. But don't hold your breath, this new project of yours is going to fail, especially after our clown is thrown out of the White House in 2012.