March 4, 2026On February 11th, 2026, Olesya Vartanyan, a first-year PhD student at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School and conflict analyst with more than fifteen years of field experience in the South Caucasus, took part in a congressional briefing on the political situation in Georgia. The event was hosted by the U.S. Helsinki Commission, a bipartisan body bringing together members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In recent years, the Commission has been a leading voice in shaping U.S. policy toward Georgia, particularly following the country’s political crisis triggered by the disputed parliamentary elections of 2024.
