My senior thesis paper titled: “The New Great Game in the Caucasus: The Effect of Georgian Hydropower on Regional Energy Security,” investigates developments made in the Republic of Georgia’s energy sector since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The paper ultimately evaluates the extent to which these developments, particularly the Georgian government’s push for “energy independence” via the promotion of its own domestic hydropower potential, have enhanced the nation’s energy security.
Much has been written about the security dynamics of Caucasus and Caspian Sea region with regard to hydrocarbon export and transit to world markets. However, there exists a significant lack of discourse on the security dynamics surrounding electricity generation or the effect of renewable sources, such as hydropower, on the region’s energy security. This paper endeavors to be the first scholarly work on that subject.
Drawing on the existing energy security literature, various published reports by advisory groups and government agencies in Georgia, as well as statistical data, I hope to present a holistic picture of Georgia’s energy transformation and its energy security impacts at this year’s Spring Symposium. I also hope to leverage my own work experience in this discussion, as a former Political and Economic Affairs intern in the U.S. Embassy in Georgia, where I covered international investment in hydropower, and as a contractor for the energy component of Deloitte’s “Governing for Growth: Georgia” USAID contract, where I helped advise the government on energy reform.
