The Security, Policy & Nationalism Research Center (UGSPN) represents a synthesis of expertise in security, policy, nationalism studies and research. Established with the vision of becoming a leading institution, UGSPN strives to provide a comprehensive and integrated approach to understanding, researching, and influencing policy in the realms of national security, defense, and nationalism studies.
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This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the transformation in Sino-Georgian relations since 2012, highlighting how bilateral ties have evolved from limited economic engagement into a formal strategic partnership. It situates this evolution within China’s more assertive foreign policy under Xi Jinping, embodied in the Belt and Road Initiative and Georgia’s strategic recalibration under the Georgian Dream government. The study examines China’s motivations, including logistical access via the Middle Corridor, political diversification in the Black Sea region, and symbolic partnership with a cooperative democracy. It explores Georgia’s calculus in seeking alternative sources of investment, hedging against Western conditionality, and leveraging the relationship for domestic legitimacy. The article then assesses key risks: the asymmetry of power and unmet expectations, the tension between Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations and deeper ties with China, the waning momentum of the BRI, and the fragility of a pragmatism-based partnership. In conclusion, it argues that without stronger institutional mechanisms and clearer strategic objectives, the Sino-Georgian partnership is likely to remain symbolic rather than transformative, offering cautionary lessons for small-state diplomacy in a multipolar world.
Author: Megi Benia, UGSPN Affiliated Fellow
The June 2025 Israel-Iran War introduced a new and alarming dimension to regional conflict: the deep integration of cyber warfare with conventional kinetic strikes. This paper examines the cyber operations launched by both states during the brief but intense conflict, detailing their targets, methods, and strategic effects. It analyzes how Israel targeted Iranian financial and maritime infrastructure while Iran responded with disruptive attacks, disinformation, and widespread surveillance manipulation. The study then explores the profound implications of this digital battlefield for regional security, modern military doctrine, international law, and escalation dynamics. Based on open-source intelligence and expert analysis of pre-existing capabilities, the paper traces how both nations leveraged their cyber arsenals not just as tactical tools but as potent psychological weapons. The digital spillover into neighboring Gulf states and the deliberate, although limited, nature of the attacks highlight the emergence of new, unwritten rules of engagement. The paper concludes with lessons learned, which can pave the way to develop robust deterrence strategies, resilience frameworks, and diplomatic norms adequate to meet the challenges of future hybrid wars, where the digital front is inseparable from the physical one.
Youth resistance in Georgia has emerged as a key actor within the landscape of non-parliamentary opposition. This paper examines how university students mobilised during the 2024 protests, not simply to contest a piece of legislation, but to engage in broader acts of political redefinition and identity reclamation. Drawing on twenty-eight ethnographic diaries, the paper investigates how emotional, symbolic, and generational practices are deployed by young activists to articulate belonging, citizenship, and resistance outside formal political institutions.
Rather than acting in coordination with the parliamentary opposition, students build their own oppositional identity through emotionally charged practices such as “identity marches,” protest rituals, and symbolic appropriation of public space. These actions reveal how emotions—particularly anger, hope, fear, pride, and confusion—function as more than expressive tools: they structure participation, forge horizontal solidarities, and sustain collective motivation over time.
The analysis highlights how students reinterpret national and European belonging as affective and civic projects, positioning themselves in opposition to both Russian influence and domestic political elites. Their actions suggest a transformation of Europeanisation from a top-down institutional narrative into a lived, grassroots civic identity. This case contributes to broader discussions on how extra-institutional opposition actors generate political agency in post-communist hybrid regimes.
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