‘Trump is going to step into politics’
Last week even vacuum cleaners when they were switched on by housewives were clamoring about Trump’s investments in Georgia. There were a number of live TV broadcasts from the United States, TV debates and alike. Later, NY Times published an article by Andrew Cramer: “Mr. Trump, the world’s first virtual developer, will not actually build the towers”. At this point in his career, he is more inclined to license the use of Trump name on someone else’s building than developing a property himself — although he still occasionally erects skyscrapers, like Trump World Tower in New York. In Georgia, Mr. Trump will license his name, and his company will manage the two properties. He will also work with Silk Road to line up financing for the projects and market the towers. This and other topics are the subject of our dialogue with Ramaz Sakvarelidze:
Q: The interest expressed by the high profile businessman is superb but is such exuberance – I mean so many compliments – addressed to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili likely to generate suspicion instead of optimism among other businessmen?
A: For me, the Trump’s Georgian fervor and exaltation about the Saakashvili’s exemplary, iconic rule is a continuation of a political line set up by Bush, McCain and other Republicans alike. The logic is very simple. Which is: Georgia is a successful country and Russia is an aggressor. As we know, Trump is about to enter big politics. Probably that is where his interest in the Georgian issue comes from.
Q: How Georgia could use the WTO membership veto power if it gives a green light to Russian WTO aspiration?
A: When you hold a golden brick in your hands, the security will be your major concern because the biggest risk would be loosing it in the nick of time. That is why the rich people run larger personal security machine than the poor people do. It is because the rich people stand to lose much more than the poor people. We seized this lever over the fate of Russian WTO membership application. If it is to be seen as a golden brick, respective security must be in place. There are so many countries who would love to see Russia entering WTO that stubbornness of Georgia regarding this issue may cause resentment and aggression on their part. So, on top of it, we need protection from that angle of possible aggression too (even if their type of aggression can be a laughable version of what aggression Russia is able to unleash). In General, if we use casino vernacular, you cannot win the card game with only one trump card. That is why from the beginning I have always been somewhat skeptical about all these hyped and inadequate noise regarding just one trump card. Moreover, I feared a gloomy turn in the story. I do not know to what end these developments will come in the long run. Maybe, it would not turn out to be all that gloomy at all. Maybe there won’t be a complete futility in the actions of Georgian mission and accordingly, we won’t have much to criticize. The fact is that, whatever the outcome, it would not be as formidable as they like to advertize in advance in Georgia. In other words, with this single golden brick we cannot invest hope in such crucial things as regaining control over the occupied territories. It is illogical. Rather, the outcome would be much modest.