Daily Inspiration Quote by Mikhail Saakashvili

A border argument disguised as a history lesson, Saakashvili’s line isn’t really about geography. It’s about belonging. By insisting Georgia is “not just a European country” but “one of the most ancient” ones, he tries to flip the usual power dynamic: instead of petitioning Europe for acceptance, Georgia is framed as a founding shareholder. The move is rhetorical judo - turning a contemporary security and identity struggle into a civilizational fact.

The specific intent is political: anchor Georgia’s future in Euro-Atlantic institutions by presenting Europeanness as inherent, not aspirational. “European” here is less a map category than a promise of governance, prosperity, and protection. In the post-Soviet space, that promise carries an obvious shadow: Russia. Saakashvili’s Georgia, especially during and after the Rose Revolution, sold itself as a reformist, Western-leaning state. Calling the country “ancient” is a way to counter the insinuation that it’s a newly invented, unstable, “near abroad” territory up for great-power negotiation.

The subtext also aims inward. It tells Georgians that modernization and Western alignment are not betrayals of tradition but expressions of it. Invoking antiquity is cultural armor: Christianity, early statehood, and a distinctive language become proof that Georgia isn’t an appendage of any empire.

The brilliance - and the risk - is how confidently it collapses cultural history into geopolitical entitlement. It’s persuasive because it offers dignity. It’s combustible because it turns a contested identity into a moral claim others are expected to ratify.