Georgia is certainly one of the states of the former Soviet Union in which the national-building process is the most
complex. Ethnic diversity which characterizes Georgia makes it by essence a multi-ethnic state. However, the
debate on diversity and on the degree of inclusion of the different ethnic groups composing the Georgian nation
remains extremely vivid in the country. It particularly concerns the Armenian community of Georgia, representing
approximately 7%.
The seizure of power by Mikheil Saakashvili in 2003 was accompanied by a more inclusive discourse on the
nation, thus instilling among the representatives of national minorities the hope of better opportunities in terms of
political participation and economic inclusion. Simultaneously to this new civic discourse, the authorities aimed
to restore their presence on the territory inhabited by ethnic minorities through both concrete and symbolic statebuilding
measures. Thus, the state based its integration policy on strong imposition of the state language upon
representatives of national minorities, hoping to strengthen their feeling of belonging to Georgia as a state.
The aim of my contribution is two-fold: first, it aims to question the efficiency of the state policies in terms of
integration. My hypothesis is that despite a civic and inclusive discourse on the nation, the authorities have
insufficiently managed to leave behind ethnic markers. Second, my article aims to question how the identity of the
Armenian community of Georgia has been affected by this new discourse. I will show that ten years after the Rose
Revolution, a large part of the local Armenians are balanced between a strong feeling of belonging to Georgia and
a remaining feeling of discrimination, thus resulting in different life strategies among the younger generation:
either exit (emigration to Armenia or Russia) or loyalty (integration through learning the state language).