(Foreign Policy) The view from billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili’s über-modernist palatial home and business center is unparalleled, giving him a clear line of sight to the giant statue of Mother Georgia, the Mtkvari River, and another large steel and-glass structure at the top of a different hill: President Mikheil Saakashvili’s palace. These dueling monuments to gargantuan egos, while betraying the two men’s similar taste in architecture, also embody the current melodrama that has enveloped the country. These men despise each other. On October 1, they will also lead their respective party coalitions to the first parliamentary election since the August 2008 war with Russia. Ivanishvili is the first major threat to Saakashvili’s power since he took over in the 2003 Rose Revolution. […]
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