The Democratic Security Institute (DSI) is an independent, non-partisan thinktank based in Estonia. We are a team of policy and civil society professionals who are passionate about the power of democracy to bring security, social justice and prosperity to people living in the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
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  • Armenian Dreams of Democracy
    Armenian Dreams of Democracy

    By Licínia Simão The month of April 2018 in Armenia was marked by an unprecedented level of popular mobilization demanding the resignation of Prime-minister Serzh Sargsyan and the end of the corrupt system he enabled as President over the last decade. He announced his resignation on April 23, following 11 days of protests in Yerevan and… Read More

  • Call for Applications: EDSN Fellowship 2018-19

    The Eurasia Democratic Security Network (EDSN), a project by the Center for Social Sciences with the generous funding of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), is seeking applicants for its 2018-19 Research and Policy Fellowship. EDSN is a network of Europe and Eurasia scholars investigating the nexus between democracy and security, with special attention paid… Read More

  • POLICY BRIEFING: Conditionality: Western & Regional Perspectives
    POLICY BRIEFING: Conditionality: Western & Regional Perspectives

    By Giorgi Khelashvili In Spring 2017, the Center for Social Sciences launched the Eurasia Democratic Security Network project funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). EDSN established a platform for discussing and addressing issues related to the Euro-Atlantic integration and conditionality. In July 2017, CSS organized kick-off workshop involving the first EDSN cohort. The aim… Read More

  • Baltic Cooperation and its Impact on Conditionality: the Case of Astravets Chance
    Baltic Cooperation and its Impact on Conditionality: the Case of Astravets Chance

    By Emmet Tuohy On the level of cooperation among the “B3” countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, progress towards accomplishing concrete and needed goals on energy (as well as transport) infrastructure has lagged badly. Not only has this lack of cooperation hampered each country’s ability to pursue its policies effectively in within Euro-Atlantic institutions, but it… Read More

  • POLICY BRIEFING: Georgian Perceptions & Cautious Conditionality
    POLICY BRIEFING: Georgian Perceptions & Cautious Conditionality

    By Levan Kakhishvili The 2015 Caucasus Barometer Survey demonstrates that for more than half of Georgians, democracy is not necessarily the most preferable form of government. In fact, only some 47 percent of the population thinks that democracy is better than other types of government. While such numbers are concerning, they are not necessarily atypical… Read More

  • Ivanshvili Returns After Never Really Leaving

    By Lincoln Mitchell Bidzina Ivanishvili’s decision to return to a formal role as Chair of the Georgian Dream (GD) is more interesting for its timing than for the action itself. Ivanishvili, despite his protestations to the contrary, has never fully removed himself from Georgian political life since stepping down as Prime Minister in November of… Read More

  • Georgia’s European Integration, Ethnic Minorities, and Russian Propaganda

    By Levan Kakhishvili Support for the European Union in Georgia is surprisingly high. When Georgia was granted a visa-free travel to the Schengen area, former British Ambassador to Georgia Alexandra Hall Hall wrote: “While this [visa-free travel] is a landmark achievement for Georgia, counterintuitively, in some respects it is a bigger deal for the EU.”… Read More

  • POLICY BRIEFING: Democracy Promotion in Eurasia — A Dialogue
    POLICY BRIEFING: Democracy Promotion in Eurasia — A Dialogue

    By Licinia Simão Democracy promotion in the countries of the former Soviet Union is now a well-established policy in many Western institutions. For more than two decades, the European Union (EU), the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and even the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have developed specific… Read More

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