Ministry of Defence of Georgia White Paper.

Georgia has been vaulted into recent headlines by the row with Russia over the Pankisi Gorge. But managing Moscow's bellicosity is not the only legacy of its Soviet past that Tbilisi must overcome. Closely related to the problem of the Pankisi Gorge is reform of Georgia's military and security services. Thoroughly committed to full integration into the West, Georgia is a regular participant in the NATO Partnership for Peace and has recently embarked upon a two year U.S. "Train and Equip" program. Still, the most important direction must come from the Georgians themselves. Mindful of this, the government of Georgia in 2000 published Georgia and the World, a general but comprehensive statement of Georgia's foreign policy. Now, the military and security forces must be reorganized accordingly. Leading the way, Defense Minister David Tevzadze this year issued the Defense White Paper. Though the challenges of implementation and of reforming the country's other security services lie ahead, the White Paper represents an important intellectual and political breakthrough. We publish it here not only to mark Georgia's progress, but also to show the prospects and problems that any country might have in thinking through such monumental change in so little time. We wish Georgia the best in its current endeavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]