Cyathocotylid genera Prohemistomum Odhner, 1913, Linstowiella Szidat, 1933, and Paracoenogonimus Katsurada, 1914 have a convoluted history associated with continuing uncertainty regarding their validity and the systematic position of their constituent species. During a survey of helminths of ospreys, Pandion haliaetus (L.), we collected representatives of Prohemistomum and Neogogatea Chandler et Rausch, 1947. Morphological examination and sequencing of partial 28S rDNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) mtDNA genes were conducted to assess their systematic relationships and provide sequence data for future species-level comparisons. We describe Prohemistomum ravindrai n. sp. from ospreys in Georgia and provide molecular data and a supplementary morphological description for Neogogatea kentuckiensis (Cable, 1935). Phylogenetic analysis of 28S sequences recovered a strongly supported Prohemistomum clade containing species previously assigned to Prohemistomum, Linstowiella, and Paracoenogonimus. Morphological characters traditionally used to distinguish these genera, including the presence or absence of a ventral sucker, degree of opisthosoma development, and relative sizes of the oral sucker, pharynx, and cirrus sac, were found to be inconsistent and systematically uninformative. Based on the combined molecular and morphological evidence, we consider Linstowiella and Paracoenogonimus to be junior synonyms of Prohemistomum and transfer their constituent species accordingly. Revised diagnoses for Prohemistomum and Neogogatea are provided. These findings highlight the importance of integrating morphology with molecular phylogenetic data when evaluating generic boundaries.

The article details the complex geopolitical and national conditions that shaped the securitization of Kists — a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority who primarily reside in the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia. Securitization of Kists emerged at the intersection of colonial encounters: Russian colonial relations with the Caucasus, primarily with Georgia and Chechnya, and Western neocolonial relations with Muslims in a form of global counterterrorist policies that painted Islam as a looming threat to the Western world after 9/11. Moreover, notions about minorities within Georgia contributed to the emergence of the securitization paradigm towards Kists. These circumstances molded Georgian national politics concerning Kists — namely, securitization policies and practices that legitimized violent special operations in the valley, close surveillance, scrutiny, and intimidation of the community. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation, qualitative interviews, and critical discourse analysis, this article examines these policies, practices, and the profound effects of the state’s politics on the social landscape of Pankisi. Moreover, this research also observes various everyday strategies and tactics employed by Kists to navigate the social terrains of marginality.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Tbilisi has become one of the key destinations of post-2022 Russian emigration. Unlike in many other host societies, this arrival has been met in Georgia with pronounced public resistance, articulated through the language of occupation and anti-imperial refusal. Slogans such as “Russians go home” and references to a “third occupation” translate everyday Russian visibility – language use, spatial clustering, and lifestyle practices – into a historically saturated interpretive framework. This article examines how and why such interpretations have emerged in Tbilisi, and why hostility is frequently directed even at self-identified “good Russians” who oppose the war and the Russian regime. Empirically, the article draws on a mixed-method research design combining long-term ethnographic and digital observation with 30 semi-structured interviews conducted between 2022 and 2024 with young, urban, pro-European Georgians in Tbilisi. Rather than analysing migrants’ intentions or political self-identifications, the study centres the perspectives of the host society and the conditions through which Russian presence is interpreted. Analytically, it adopts a decolonial/postcolonial perspective and mobilises the concept of coloniality to distinguish between historical empire and the persistence of linguistic, cultural, and epistemic hierarchies after its formal end. The findings demonstrate this dynamic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted limitations in case-based surveillance due to inconsistent testing and reporting. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as a complementary surveillance approach for tracking SARS-CoV-2 transmission, capturing both symptomatic and asymptomatic infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of WBE in estimating the effective reproduction number ($ {R}_t $) of SARS-CoV-2 in Georgia, USA. We used a Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) to analyse viral concentration data from multiple wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) collected between 1 June 2022 and 15 December 2022. After controlling for flow rates and site-level heterogeneity, model residuals were transformed into a non-negative incidence-like series used to estimate wastewater-based $ {R}_t $. Wastewater-based $ {R}_t $was compared with case-based $ {R}_t $estimates using Spearman correlation. The two $ {R}_t $ estimates showed concordant temporal patterns across most sites, with stronger correlations in areas with higher case counts (Spearman correlations ranging from 0.39 to 0.84, $ p<0.001 $). Wastewater-based $ {R}_t $ tracked increases and decreases in transmission over similar time scales as case-based estimates, while exhibiting reduced sensitivity to short-term changes in clinical testing and reporting behaviour. These findings suggest that WBE can support estimation of transmission trends and complement traditional case-based surveillance for public health monitoring.

This article examines the identities of three sub-ethnic and ethnographic groups in Georgia – Adjarians, Megrelians, and Tushetians – and their relationship to the Georgian nation in political and ethnic terms. Drawing on fieldwork conducted between 2022 and 2023, the study explores how these groups navigate their distinct cultural markers, such as religion, language, and traditions, while engaging with the broader national identity. Using the theoretical framework of nationalization, the analysis explores four key themes: the salience of ethno-cultural differences, the transformation of sub-ethnic identities, the politicization of ethno-cultural markers, and the groups’ historical narratives emphasizing their contributions to Georgian-ness. The findings highlight the link between local identities and national integration. The findings contribute to broader theoretical debates on nationalization by demonstrating that the integration of sub-ethnic groups is not a unidirectional process of homogenization, but a dynamic negotiation of diversity and unity.

In recent years, observers have raised concerns about threats to democracy posed by external support for authoritarianism coming from regional powers such as Russia, China and Venezuela. This article assesses the efficacy of autocracy promotion through a close examination of Russian efforts to shape regime outcomes in the former Soviet Union. It finds that while Russian actions have periodically promoted instability and secessionist conflict, there is little evidence that such intervention has made post‐Soviet countries less democratic than they would have been otherwise. First, the Russian government has been inconsistent in its support for autocracy – supporting opposition and greater pluralism in countries where anti‐Russian governments are in power, and incumbent autocrats in cases where pro‐Russian politicians dominate. At the same time, the Russian government's narrow concentration on its own economic and geopolitical interests has significantly limited the country's influence, fostering a strong counter‐reaction in countries with strong anti‐Russian national identities. Finally, Russia's impact on democracy in the region has been restricted by the fact that post‐Soviet countries already have weak democratic prerequisites. This analysis suggests that, despite increasingly aggressive foreign policies by autocratic regional powers, autocracy promotion does not present a particularly serious threat to democracy in the world today.

The assumption that state behaviour is primarily driven by a survival interest remains widespread within international relations (IR), even as many others attract critique. This article problematises that assumption, arguing that the meaning of survival itself, not just states’ means of pursuing it, varies significantly. Common conceptions of state survival reflect a legal definition of sovereign statehood encompassing a permanent population, defined territory, government institutions, and political autonomy. Yet leaders and publics do not uniformly conceive and value these aspects of statehood, which often generate contradictory policy incentives. Expanding on recent works in ontological security studies, this article argues that national narratives produce diverse interpretations of state survival that generate distinct meanings and prioritisations among the core aspects of statehood. Put another way, states’ physical bodies and physical survival – as IR scholars frequently discuss these concepts – are chiefly ideational. These theoretical arguments are illustrated through case studies of Georgia and Kazakhstan, which displayed radically different interpretations of survival and, hence, threat perceptions and security choices during the early 1990s. Accounting for variations within the concept of survival – both across states and within a state over time – can help future research explain a broader range of state behaviour.

Do appeals to Black voters necessarily detract white voters from supporting the left? Extant studies have yielded mixed answers to this question by examining voter turnout data. We use two survey experiments to test how framing politicians as either supportive of or hostile to the #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) and #SayHerName (SHN) movements affected the willingness of voters to support them during the 2020 Senate runoff elections in Georgia. We find that Democratic-leaning respondents in both a national sample of Black respondents and a sample of White respondents in Georgia were more likely to support politicians whom we framed as supportive of the BLM and SHN movements. These findings illustrate the potential potency of messaging strategies grounded in racial justice themes for mobilizing Democratic-leaning voters in American elections.

Between 2011 and 2017, excavations by a joint German-Georgian team at the Tabakoni settlement mound in the Colchis lowlands of western Georgia uncovered complex wooden constructions preserved in the waterlogged soils. Combined radiocarbon and dendrochronological dating, the first undertaking of its kind in Colchis, reveals that construction on a stable foundation for the site began in the twentieth century BC and identifies early evidence for the cultivation of millet. Subsequent occupation phases saw the careful levelling of previous structures and the addition of backfill, gradually building up the mound until it was ultimately abandoned in the second half of the first millennium BC.

Ethno-religious nationalism has been an integral part of the Georgian identity since the country regained independence. Since the early 2000s, Georgia has had a constitutionally enshrined pro-European foreign policy, which has been reflected in a strong identification with Europe, its culture, and values. Survey data show that Georgians prefer European and Christian ethnic outgroups to Asian and Muslim ones. These factors could have explained the rise of the far right in Georgia, had Georgia experienced a wave of refugees comparable to EU states in mid-2010s. However, only few people fled from the Syrian civil war to Georgia. Nevertheless, in and around 2016, various far-right groups with a strong anti-liberal ideology appeared in the Georgian public sphere. In 2017, a far-right rally was organized, demanding that the rights of Turkish, Iranian, and Arab business owners and citizens be restricted in Georgia. This was accompanied by violent incidents involving physical abuse and property damage of non-white foreigners. The sudden rise of the far-right political organizations in Georgia gives rise to various questions: Do the far-right ideas have grassroots origins, or was the activation of the far right a top-down process? Which domestic and external factors could have contributed to these developments?

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Georgia became a key destination for Russian migrants, who significantly influenced the local housing market. This article explores the impact of the influx of Russian migrants into Tbilisi, which caused a surge in rental prices and aroused feelings of social insecurity among Georgian citizens. Using qualitative methods, including social media analysis and semi-structured interviews, the study investigates the emergence of “informal sanctions” imposed by Georgian Airbnb and Booking.com hosts as a means of expressing political dissatisfaction with their own government and protecting national interests. This article identifies four patterns of informal sanctions, such as rejecting, discomforting, avoiding, and exploiting Russian tenants, which reflect a form of patriotism from below. We argue that these spontaneous, everyday practices of resistance lead to the politicization of mundane host-tenant relations and the collective stereotyping of a migrant group in a time of insecurity. The theoretical proposition here is that everyday nationalism is closely related to informality, which opens the possibility of examining grassroots responses to perceived threats and tactics of resistance, with implications for broader social dynamics in times of ongoing geopolitical conflict and wartime migration in Eastern Europe.