IDFI is working on a new project that intends to analyze the events that took place in 1989-1991 in Georgia.

The project - Past Legacy of a New State - is being implemented with the financial support of dvv international .

Even 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union the last years of the existence of USSR and the first years of the independence of Georgia practically have not been researched. The topic does not find adequate coverage in school textbooks and scientific discussion.

The following questions remain unanswered for the general public:

1) What was the public opinion on the collapse of the Soviet Union and the newfound independence of Georgia;

2) Were the dissidents that came into power ready to govern an independent Georgia;

3) Did the replacement of the Soviet elite with a new different one really happen in the 90s and did the so called Communist elite fight for the return of their privileges;

4) Did the everyday life change after the declaration of independence in Georgia, or did it still remain “soviet”?

In the frameworks of the project, IDFI researchers will look for and analyze archival materials and documents about the relevant period, stored in the Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which contains the archives of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia and the former Security Committee Archive; the research group will also search for materials in the newspaper archive of the National Library of Georgia; will study the newspapers and magazines published in that period and analyze the development of social-political changes and transformation in the country based on the results; also, in the process of the study, we plan to record oral histories from the active participants of the events of that period. The researchers will also use materials that cover the mentioned period provided by the George Washington National Security Archive

At the end of the project a book will be published covering the research and photo-documental materials.