Georgia will receive its Christmas and New Year's present late this year, but the wait will be worth it. For the presidential election to choose a successor to President Eduard Shevardnadze, scheduled for January 4, 2004, offers the country its first real hope since independence in 1991. A peaceful "Rose revolution" brought this about, but economics, not politics, will determine whether Georgia prospers or endures another lost decade.
Georgia will receive its Christmas and New Year's present late this year, but the wait will be worth it. For the presidential election to choose a successor to President Eduard Shevardnadze, scheduled for January 4, 2004, offers the country its first real hope since independence in 1991. A peaceful "Rose revolution" brought this about, but economics, not politics, will determine whether Georgia prospers or endures another lost decade.