At the edge of the future: before the final results are announced

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4
Nov

Panel discussion at AmStud

The United States is at a political crossroads today. Again. So is the rest of the world while American political influence runs globally. The outcome of the US presidential election 2020 will influence not only the people of the United States but the vast majority of the rest of the countries in the world. Therefore, the interest in the results of the American election is tremendous outside its borders, too. Of course, Georgia is not the exclusion.

 

Prof Vasil Kacharava with Prof Maia Nadareishvili, himself, Prof Mikheil Barnovi, George Labadze, Prof Katie Rostiashvili, Prof Vasil Rukhadze during the panel (L-R). Credit to BRAMS (MN)
Prof Vasil Kacharava with Prof Maia Nadareishvili, Prof Mikheil Barnovi, George Labadze, Prof Katie Rostiashvili, Prof Vasil Rukhadze during the panel. Credit: BRAMS

 

As a leader in American studies in Georgia as well as in the Caucasus region, the Institute of American Studies at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University organised a panel discussion on 4 November – the day after the United States presidential election. While the final results are still unknown, the spectators are making the wild guesses one last time, the voters are starting to run out of patience, and emotions escalate.

 

Prof Vasil Rukhadze with Prof Diana Tkebuchava, George Labadze, Prof Vasil Kacharava, himself, Prof Katie Rostiashvili during the panel (L-R). Credit to BRAMS (MN)
Prof Vasil Rukhadze with Prof Diana Tkebuchava, George Labadze, Prof Vasil Kacharava, Prof Katie Rostiashvili during the panel (L-R). Credit: BRAMS

 

The panel discussion has been led by Professor Vasil Kacharava, the head of the Institute of American Studies, and President of the Georgian Association for American Studies. George Labadze, a postgraduate student at the Institute of American Studies, served as a mediator of the discussion.

 

Prof Katie Rostiashvili with Prof Maia Nadareishvili, George Labadze, herself, Prof Vasil Kacharava, Prof Vasil Rukhadze during the panel (L-R). Credit to BRAMS (MN)
Prof Katie Rostiashvili with Prof Maia Nadareishvili, George Labadze, Prof Vasil Kacharava, Prof Vasil Rukhadze during the panel (L-R). Credit: BRAMS

 

The online meeting was attended by 26 participants in total. BRAMS Institute was represented by Professor Diana Tkebuchava, who serves as an Academic Research Coordinator at BRAMS, and Professor Maia Nadareishvili, who is the Founder and Director of BRAMS Institute. Other participants consisted of professors and students from Tbilisi State University.

 

Moderator George Labadze with Prof Diana Tkebuchava, himself, Prof Vasil Kacharava, Prof Vasil Rukhadze, Prof Katie Rostiashvili during the panel (L-R). Credit to BRAMS (MN)
Moderator George Labadze with Prof Diana Tkebuchava, Prof Vasil Kacharava, Prof Vasil Rukhadze, Prof Katie Rostiashvili during the panel (L-R). Credit: BRAMS

 

The panellists were as follows: Professor Vasil Kacharava of Tbilisi State University, Visiting Professor Vasil Rukhadze of the University of Pittsburgh, Visiting Professor Katie Rostiashvili of Tbilisi State University, a postgraduate student George Labadze of the Institute of American Studies. They spoke about the election process as well as the peculiarities of the American counting system. The speakers reviewed the main reasons behind the election results, the swings in the political position of the modern voters, and attempted to make a general prediction about the domestic and foreign policy of the elected administration.

 

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