Georgia–United States relations

Georgia – United States relations

Georgia	United States

Former Soviet Foreign Minister and then President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze signs the Georgian-American Investment Treaty with then President Clinton in the White House

President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia meeting Barack Obama in 2011

Georgian troops celebrate the Georgian independence day in Baghdad. May 26, 2006

President Bush's address to more than 100,000 at Freedom Square marked a new stage in Georgian-American relations

The first families of Georgia and the U.S. in 2009

Georgia – United States relations are bilateral relations between Georgia and the United States. As a key U.S. ally in the war on terror, Georgia was the third largest troop contributor in the Iraq War and is currently the largest per-capita contributor to the U.S. led mission in Afghanistan. The United States for its part is actively assisting Georgia in developing a stable economy and democratic institutions in the face of increasing pressure from its northern neighbor Russia and has provided the country with financial assistance in excess of 3 billion dollars since 1991. Since 2009, Georgian-American relations are streamlined by the U.S.-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership,which created four bilateral working groups on priority areas of democracy; defense and security; economic, trade, and energy issues; and people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

Georgia is currently a candidate for NATO membership and the United States is actively supporting its membership bid. In February 2012, it was agreed that the U.S. and Georgia will start working on a Free Trade Agreement which, if materialized, will make Georgia the only European country to have such treaty with the United States.

Georgian-American cooperation on development

The United States works closely with Georgia to promote mutual security and counterterrorism interests and provides Georgia with bilateral security assistance, including English-language and military professionalism training, through the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program.

The multi-year Georgia Train and Equip Program (GTEP) ended in 2004, achieving its intended goals of enhancing Georgia's military capability and stimulating military reform. Launched in January 2005, the Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program has advanced GTEP's goals and trained the Georgian contingent participating in coalition operations in Iraq. Partnership with the Georgia (U.S.) National Guard, visits by the Sixth Fleet and the Coast Guard to Georgia, and the Bilateral Working Group on Defense and Military Cooperation are also important components of American security relationship with Georgia.

Promoting democracy and reform is another strategic pillar of America's bilateral relationship with Georgia. In April 2006, as part of these reforms Georgian passed a strong anti-human trafficking law and has since then ranked consistently among Tier 1 countries of the State Department's report on trafficking in persons, meaning that the country now fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

Georgia hosts 90 Peace Corps Volunteers who work in English Language Education and NGO Development.

The Iraq War

Georgia's contingent in Iraq originally consisted of 300 special forces troops under U.S. command in Baqouba, who guarded two bridges and three American Forward Operating Bases. 550 more troops were deployed in June 2005, ostensibly to serve as UNAMI guards, although they were placed under U.S. command on a dangerous 'Middle Ring Security' mission in the Green Zone. In 2007, Georgia brought the total number of its troops in Iraq to 2000, becoming the third largest troop contributor after the U.S. and the United Kingdom.The troops, all of whom had been trained by American instructors, were based east of Baghdad, close to the border with Iran.

During the outbreak of war between Georgia and Russia on August 8, 2008, Georgia was forced to pull its entire 2,000-strong contingent from Iraq to provide assistance back home. At the time of the withdrawal, five Georgian soldiers had died in Iraq and 19 were wounded.

International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan

Georgia currently maintains 937 soldiers in the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan, making it the largest per-capita contributor to the mission. It has pledged to further increase this number by 625 soldiers and overtake Australia as the largest non-NATO contributor in 2012. Georgia has thus far suffered 9 deaths and 38 injuries in the war.

South Ossetia conflict

Much like its Western allies, the United States condemned Russia's intrusion into Georgia's sovereign territory and while it abstained from direct military action, Washington used military aircraft and naval forces to deliver aid to Georgia to signal its strong support. Following the war, at the advice of vice president Joseph Biden the U.S. appropriated one billion dollars to help Georgia rebuild.

On January 9, 2009, the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze signed a Charter on Strategic Partnership, a nonbinding document outlining areas of cooperation and reiterating the U.S. support for Georgia's territorial integrity and to Georgia's NATO membership.

Following U.S. President Barack Obama's meeting with Dmitry Medvedev in 2009, there were worries in Georgia and among its supporters in the U.S. that the Georgian-American relations would suffer as a result of Russian-American rapprochement. However, the White House stated that the administration will continue to support Georgia.

See also

• Foreign relations of the United States
• Foreign relations of Georgia
• Bush Doctrine

External links

• History of Georgia - U.S. relations

• Background information