Why Western NGOs Aren't Real Civil Society in the South Caucasus
There is no such thing as a classical civil society in Georgia, Armenia, or Russia. What we have is a group of people financed by foreign agencies to promote interests by foreign agencies.
Archil Sikharulidze makes a provocative but empirically grounded argument that the concept of ‘civil society’ as understood in Western discourse does not authentically exist in Georgia, Armenia, or Russia. Rather than independent grassroots movements driven by citizens’ own convictions, what these countries actually have are organizations funded, staffed, and directed by foreign agencies, primarily Western governments and their affiliated institutions. Sikharulidze defines this distinction clearly: authentic civil society emerges organically from a nation’s cultural and societal development, as happened in European and American societies. In the post-Soviet space, however, what appears to be civil society is actually a collection of local citizens gathered, financed, and tasked by foreign agencies to advance those agencies’ geopolitical interests. This framing challenges the narrative often promoted by Western media and policymakers, who present NGO activism in the region as proof of grassroots democratic sentiment. Sikharulidze calls these organizations ‘hired civil society,’ stressing that while members may live in the country and hold local passports, they do not set their own agenda. He notes that Georgia’s foreign agent law, which requires such organizations to disclose foreign funding sources, serves the function of transparency: it makes clear to the public that these activists are paid by foreign powers, not acting on independent conviction. This analysis has significant implications for understanding how Western powers attempt to shape South Caucasus politics through the veneer of grassroots movements.
Transcript
Archil Sikharulidze: Well, I think we should separate two issues. Archil Sikharulidze: The first one is NGO agenda. Archil Sikharulidze: There is no such thing. Archil Sikharulidze: There is no such thing as a classical civil society in Georgia, Archil Sikharulidze: in Armenia, in Russia, or in the post-Soviet space. Archil Sikharulidze: This is the line. Archil Sikharulidze: Civil society has been established in European-American societies as a part Archil Sikharulidze: of cultural and societal development. Archil Sikharulidze: So when you say about civil society, what we actually mean? Archil Sikharulidze: An independent group of people, Archil Sikharulidze: your own citizens, Archil Sikharulidze: who decided to create and finance a movement and fight for rights Archil Sikharulidze: and promote some policies. Archil Sikharulidze: This is the classical understanding of the civil society. Archil Sikharulidze: What we have on the ground, Archil Sikharulidze: a group of people, Archil Sikharulidze: our own citizens that had been gathered by foreign agencies, Archil Sikharulidze: financed by foreign agencies to promote interests set by foreign agencies. Archil Sikharulidze: This is indisputable. Archil Sikharulidze: This had never been actually questioned. Archil Sikharulidze: So I call them “hired Georgian civil society”. Archil Sikharulidze: So they are a corporation. Archil Sikharulidze: They represent Georgian society at some point because they do have Georgian passports. Archil Sikharulidze: They live in Georgia, but they do not create the agenda. Archil Sikharulidze: They do not have their own independent agenda, and they are paid for very particular steps.