Laura Thornton becomes Director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at German Marshall Fund

31.04.2021. The German Marshall Fund of the United States announced the appointment of Laura Thornton as director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy. Previously, Laura Thornton worked at leadership positions as the head of  National Democratic Institute in Tbilisi and International IDEA in Stockholm.

We are pleased to congratulate Laura, who is a member of Caucasian Journal's Advisory Board. She has contributed several articles to Caucasian Journal. The latest one, entitled “How does democracy work six feet apart?“, can be found here.

GMF President Karen Donfried said: “GMF’s mission, strengthening transatlantic relations in the spirit of the Marshall Plan, is rooted in the values of democracy. Laura’s wealth of experience promoting democracy will be an asset to our work at a time when threats to democracy are proliferating globally."

ახლა უკვე ქართულად - Now in Georgian: Our interview with Gunda TIRE on Estonia's school reform

28.03.2021 (Caucasian Journal).  ახლა უკვე ქართულად! Our interview with Gunda Tire on Estonia's super-successful school reform is now available in Georgian language. If you speak Georgian, you are welcome to visit Caucasian Journal's Georgian version here. For readers who have missed the original English publication, we republish it once again.  

School education  is basic for achieving progress in other directions. How South Caucasian students compare with peers? How well can they read? We talk not only about the best school reform experience, but also why South Caucasus is lagging behind. 

It is our pleasure to introduce Ms. Gunda TIRE, PISA National Project Manager at Foundation Innove. PISA is the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment, and Innove is an education competence center in Estonia. The reason why we invited an expert from Estonia is simple: Because Estonian students are the best in Europe. 

Read the Georgian language version here.

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of CJ:  Indeed, according to recent PISA worldwide student assessment results, the Estonian 15-year olds have the Europe’s highest scores in all disciplines. First of all, please accept our sincere congratulations to Estonian friends with this excellent achievement! I know it was not unexpected, since Estonia’s results have been going up for some time, but anyway how was the top achievement perceived - by ordinary people and by professionals?

Gunda TIRE:  Thank you very much for the kind words, and we really appreciate your invitation to share the Estonian PISA experience with your readers!

Tina KHIDASHELI and Kristin Krohn DEVOLD (video): Female Defense Ministers from Georgia and Norway discuss NATO, gender, civil society

08.03.2021 (Caucasian Journal). On the eve of International Women's Day, Caucasian Journal has interviewed two female defense ministers and NGO leaders – Tina KHIDASHELI (Georgia) and Kristin Krohn DEVOLD (Norway), who discuss a wide range of issues - from NATO to gender equality.  You may view the video discussion below. 

The full text of this double interview is also available in English and Georgian:

▶ ქართულად: The Georgian text version is here. 

▶ English text version is here. 

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Tina KHIDASHELI and Kristin Krohn DEVOLD: Female Defense Ministers from Georgia and Norway discuss NATO, gender, civil society

07.03.2021 (Caucasian Journal). On the eve of International Women's Day, Caucasian Journal has interviewed two female defense ministers – Tina KHIDASHELI (Georgia) and Kristin Krohn DEVOLD (Norway). They are discussing a wide range of topics from gender issues to NATO.  

Our double interview can be watched or read in two languages. Below Caucasian Journal is pleased to present the full English text version of interview. 

▶ ქართულად: The Georgian text version is here. 

▶ For the video version of interview, click here.

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of CJ:  Hello, and welcome to Caucasian Journal video interviews. Our guests today are Tina KHIDASHELI - leader of Civic IDEA, Georgian non-governmental organization, and former defense minister of Georgia, and Kristin Krohn DEVOLD - former defense minister of Norway, and currently head of Norwegian Travel Association, who joins us online.

Dear Tina, first thank you very much for giving this interview. Tina, you have many “hats”: an experienced politician and a legal expert, head of a leading Georgian non-governmental organization, and of course former defense minister – the first and actually the only female defense minister in this country.