Supporting the fight against authoritarianism in Georgia might not initially seem like the most cost-effective use of donations, given the country's small size and seemingly isolated context. However, even a modest investment in a civil society that is currently designing new, creative methods of resistance may be more cost-effective than assumed.
Authoritarianism is a growing problem worldwide. According to a V-Dem report, democracy for the average global citizen has regressed to 1978 levels. Democracy is not merely a system that is morally superior to authoritarianism; stable democracies are statistically less likely to wage war against one another or spark conflicts with catastrophic global consequences. Democracies are better equipped to manage high-stakes threats, such as nuclear weapons or advanced Artificial Intelligence, compared to authoritarian one-party states.
Autocracies learn from one another; a victory for a regime in one country emboldens autocrats elsewhere. Developing transferable strategies that equip civil societies to resist these regimes can be highly impactful. In the early 2000s, Serbia's Otpor movement developed a spectrum of nonviolent resistance tools that were later successfully adapted by movements worldwide. These tools, although highly successful, need updating in the 21st-century context.
If Georgia's civil society successfully achieves a democratic transition, the lessons learned could serve as a blueprint for resisting modern authoritarians globally. Case studies suggest that many nonviolent resistance tools are effective across diverse borders, regardless of cultural differences. While donating to this cause may be experimental, it is more critical now than ever, as most institutional donors are currently unable to provide direct aid to Georgian civil society organizations and independent media.
