Global War Party

Global War Party (Georgian: გლობალური ომის პარტია, globaluri omis p’art’ia) is a conspiracy theory created and advanced by the Georgian political party Georgian Dream. It is an alleged mysterious international New World Order organization exerting a key influence on the European Union and the United States. Georgian Dream has accused it of prolonging the Russo-Ukrainian war and spreading it to other countries, assassinating sovereignist leaders, orchestrating revolutions around the world, and plotting to topple Georgian Dream from power.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze who has frequently advanced the "Global War Party" conspiracy theory

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has portrayed his government as in a fight against the "Global War Party", saying "There is no alternative to the fight against the “Global War Party”, it is a very painful, difficult fight, including from a personal point of view." He added that a surrender ensures the "Ukrainization of Georgia."

The claim has been widely dismissed by the West, with the US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs James C. O'Brien describing the claims as a "Reddit page coming to life". Responding to the conspiracy theory, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis has stated "The only war party is in Moscow."

Members

Despite the frequent mentions from the Georgian government, Georgian Dream refuses to specify the specific members of the alleged organization. The amorphous term has been used as a dog whistle to refer to perceived political opponents such as the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Council, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. State Department, the Western media, the NGO sector, Swiss banks and the Georgian opposition in particular United National Movement. Kobakhidze has stated that the term was not a reference to the European Union or the United States, and that, on the contrary, "the EU is one of the main victims."

Mariam Lashkhi

Georgian Dream MP Mariam Lashkhi has compared the "global War Party" to the Freemasons. One of the few explicitly named members of the "Global War Party" is CNN. According to the Georgian Dream-connected commentators, the "Global War Party" stands for the American military-industrial complex, corporations such as BlackRock, Vanguard Industries, State Street Corporation and Fidelity Investments, which they accuse of war profiteering, pushing America and other countries into endless wars, and making financial profit from the Russo-Ukrainian War.

History

Oleksiy Danilov

Shortly after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security Council Oleksiy Danilov called Georgia and Moldova to open a "second front" against Russia. Additionally, Oleksiy Arestovych, advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stated that it was a "historic opportunity to retake Abkhazia and South Ossetia."

Following this, Georgian Dream has frequently accused the West of trying to open a "second front". Irakli Kobakhidze criticized these remarks, saying that the Ukrainian officials want to pursue their own interests at Georgia's expense because opening a second front would "make the situation worse for Russia", but it would also come at the cost of "destroying Georgia" as Russia's military is significantly stronger than the Georgian military. Georgian Dream MP Gia Volski called on the EU and US to "distance themselves" from statements from some Ukrainian officials to "see Georgia engage in war".

Georgian ex-President and the formal UNM leader Mikheil Saakashvili at the Euromaidan rally in Kyiv. 2013

Soon after, Georgian Dream's rhetoric turned conspiratorial accusing a so-called "Global War Party" of being behind such calls, with which the NGO sector and Georgian opposition are supposed to be affiliated, most specifically the largest and highly pro-Western opposition party - United National Movement. Kobakhidze has explicitly referred to UNM as a "local war party".

The Georgian Dream leaders accused their arch-rival United National Movement of being involved in the efforts to "drag Georgia into the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine and open a second frontline". Party chair Kobakhidze claimed "coordination and convergence of interests" between UNM and the Ukrainian government. Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili claimed that Ukraine had become a "shelter" for the Georgian "criminals", the former United National Movement members convicted on numerous charges in Georgia, such as the Deputy Head of Ukrainian military intelligence Giorgi Lortkipanidze, in top public posts in Ukraine and that these functionaries had been allegedly involved in organizing unrest in Georgia.

In June 2022, the European Parliament passed several resolutions against the Georgian government and refused to grant Georgia candidate status. Kobakhidze criticized these actions and said that they were influenced by the "Global War Party".

Meanwhile, in 2022 a total of nine MPs left the Georgian Dream parliamentary faction to establish People's Power party. The MPs maintained their support for the government, and thus provided for the parliamentary majority, but left Georgian Dream in order to freely speak "the truth about the West" and its officials. The MPs expressed strong anti-western sentiments and spread conspiracy theories such as that in exchange for EU candidate status, the West ordered Georgia to partially give up its sovereignty and go to war with Russia.

Kobakhidze has accused the "Global War Party" of seizing $2 billion belonging to the Georgian oligarch, founder, and informal leader of Georgian Dream Bidzina Ivanishvili, calling it de facto sanctions. This has been cited as a reason why Ivanishvili has refused meetings with the representatives of the country's traditional allies. While it is unclear what he is referring to, Credit Suisse has been ordered to pay $926 million to Ivanishvili for failing to safeguard his assets.

Bidzina Ivanishvili speaking at a Georgian Dream rally

At a Georgian Dream rally in Tbilisi on 29 April 2024 Ivanishvili spoke as the headliner. He blamed the "Global War Party" for pitting Georgia and Ukraine against Russia and orchestrating the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, 2014 Russo-Ukrainian conflict, and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Georgia and Ukraine not being granted NATO membership was also blamed on the influence of the "Global War Party", to whom he said Georgia and Ukraine are cannon fodder. He stressed that the main reason his government was in a conflict with the "Global War Party" was that he did not let them open a "second front" in the country. He pointed to a resolution critical of Georgian Dream that was passed by the European Parliament and said it was proof that "the European Parliament had become yet another one of ["Global War Party's"] tools".

Olivér Várhelyi (2019)

On 23 May 2024, Kobakhidze expanded the "Global War Party" conspiracy theory and accused it of being responsible for the attempted assassination of Robert Fico. He also accused the Hungarian EU commissioner Olivér Várhelyi of threatening his life. He later elaborated:

"However, even in the face of prolonged blackmail, the threat voiced during a telephone conversation with one of the European Commissioners was shocking. During our conversation, the European Commissioner listed a number of measures that Western politicians might take if the veto on the transparency law is overcome. While listing these measures, he mentioned, "You've seen what happened to Fico and you should be very careful.""

Kobakhidze has come in favor of starting an investigation relating to the alleged death threat.

Kobakhidze has gone on to emphasize the importance of deoligarchization of both the European Union and the United States of America, a process he describes would entail freeing them from the “Global War Party's" influence. Georgian State Security Service has dismissed the existence of the “Global War Party” as an entity but stated that it will investigate any actor who wishes to destabilize the country.