International Herald Tribune: "Shevardnadze was a perfect symbol of the illusion"

We call your attention to some extracts from the article "Exit Shevardnadze" published by The International Herald Tribune on November 26.

"However badly Eduard Shevardnadze ruled his mountain republic of Georgia, and however tardy his departure, he exited with the grace that will allow him to retain his stature as one of the great statesmen in the final chapter of the cold war. Like Mikhail Gorbachev, his comrade in that saga, Shevardnadze recognized in time that hanging on would only lead to violence."

"Still, there is something tragic and troubling in the fact that a man who had such success as foreign minister of an empire proved such a failure as the leader of a country one-50th the size. It is a tale told in many another little state created in the breakup of the Soviet Union - countries born in the illusion that without the imperial yoke they will surely gain freedom, prosperity and happiness.

Shevardnadze was a perfect symbol of that illusion. Unruffled, dapper, witty, he was a master at steering Soviet foreign policy."

"He resigned before the Soviet Union fell apart, and reappeared in Georgia in 1991." "But his return to power in the new Georgia was already a foretaste of the troubles to come." "He had to deal with secessionists in South Ossetia, with Chechen rebels who used northern Georgia as a staging area, and with massive corruption at home." "In the end, Shevardnadze fell because he found no answer to these problems, while Georgia's economy slid inexorably downward."

"The question now is whether his euphoric successors will do any better." "At least the new leaders have the people behind them for now, and they must use this support to crack down on the two most threatening cancers - corruption and the Chechen rebels."