Dealing with trauma of an undigested past not only from photos, but also from life, and now from the history as well. Georgia failed to implement lustra�on a�er becoming independent from Russia in the early 90s. The society failed to deal with the past, the lessons are not concluded, the history of the Soviet repressions is erased from the collec�ve memory and due to that, we face the danger of it to be repeated. Why did I start with my own story and a story of my country while opening the panel on interna�onal rela�ons? Taking into considera�on that professor Volkan is our panel par�cipant, I am referring to his unique analysis of the former Yugoslavian case. In one of his books, he explores the impact of trauma and humilia�on experienced by the Serbian society due to the conquering by the O�oman Empire over the long period of �me (from 14th to 19th century). A societal trauma that was not grieved properly, in combina�on with personal and family traumas of Slobodan Milosevic, contributed to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia in the 90s. This conflict, in turn, contributed to declaring Kosovo as the independent state. Also, the Kosovo case contributed to poli�cal manipula�ons from the Russian side, which acknowledged ‘independence’ of the two regions of my home country – South Osse�a and Abkhazia. Everything is interlinked. When we are speaking about interna�onal rela�ons and the impact of trauma on the interna�onal level, we should also keep in mind the individual trauma, family traumas, communal traumas, societal traumas and their interplay. This is a systemic and systema�c way of thinking. Additional readings
Javakhishivili, D., J. (2016). The Soviet Legacy in Contemporary Georgia: A Psycho traumatological Perspec�ve. Identity Studies in the Caucasus and the Black Sea Region [online], 5, 20-40. Available from: h�ps://bit.ly/2XrzTHr [Accessed date: 27th of May 2020].
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