Giorgi Shaishmelashvili

Giorgi Shaishmelashvili is a defense and security professional with extensive experience in public service, think tanks, and academia. He previously held senior positions at the Ministry of Defense of Georgia and the National Security Council, contributing to strategic planning, defense policy formulation, and civil–military relations at the highest levels of government. In his think tank work, as Head of Research at Civic IDEA, he led analytical projects on Eurasian security, with a particular focus on countering Russian and Chinese influence in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. He lectures at leading academic institutions in Georgia, teaching graduate-level courses on Strategic Studies, Intelligence and Decision-Making, Civil–Military Relations, and Regional Security in the Caucasus. His research bridges the gap between policy and academia, focusing on how institutional maturity shapes the effectiveness of security assistance, with comparative case studies on Georgia, Ukraine, and Estonia. Mr. Shaishmelashvili holds an M.A. in Strategic Security Studies from the National Defense University (NDU), Washington, D.C. An active advocate for Georgia’s democratic resilience, he combines policy expertise and public engagement to advance the country’s Euro-Atlantic future.