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/* Foreign Relations */
[[File:Lugar Center.jpg|right|300px|thumb|The Lugar Center Biological Weapons Research Laboratory in Georgia owned and operated by the [[U.S. Department of Defense]].<ref>https://21wire.tv/2018/01/21/wmd-america-inside-the-pentagons-global-bioweapons-industry/</ref>]]
Georgia's location between the Black Sea, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey gives it importance as a transport corridor far beyond its size. It is developing as the gateway from the Black Sea to the Caucasus and the Caspian basin. Following Russian bans on imports of Georgian wine, water, and agricultural products, and the severing of transportation links in 2006, Georgia has reached out to other neighbors and to the West to diversify its export markets. It signed a partnership and cooperation agreement with the European Union, and in 2006 signed an action plan under the European Union's European Neighborhood Policy for reforms aimed at building a closer relationship with the EU. Georgia participates in NATO's Partnership for Peace program. In September 2006, Georgia was granted Intensified Dialogue with NATO to formalize discussions on Georgia's membership aspirations. In addition, Georgia has reached out to a number of countries that have expressed interest in investing in the country. China, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, and Ukraine, as well as a number of European Union countries (including Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) maintain embassies in Tbilisi. Georgia is a member of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Trade Organization, the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development-GUAM.
====NATO expansion====
{{See also|NATO aggression in the Russia-Ukraine war}}
On February 1, 2008 US Ambassador to [[Moscow]] and later [[Biden regime]] [[CIA]] director [[William J. Burns]] sent a classified cable to the [[State Department]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] reporting on the Russian leadership's reaction to proposed [[NATO]] expansion to include Georgia and [[Ukraine]]. It was later [[leak]]ed by [[WikiLeaks]]. It read in part:
{{quotebox-float|"NATO enlargement, particularly to Ukraine, remains “an emotional and neuralgic” issue for Russia, but strategic policy considerations also underlie strong opposition to NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia. In Ukraine, these include fears that the issue could potentially split the country in two, leading to [[violence]] or even, some claim, [[civil war]], which would force Russia to decide whether to intervene. Additionally, the GOR [Government of Russia] and experts continue to claim that Ukrainian NATO membership would have a major impact on Russia’s defense industry, Russian-Ukrainian family connections, and bilateral relations generally….
….During his annual review of Russia’s foreign policy January 22-23 [2008] (ref B), [[Foreign Minister Lavrov]] stressed that Russia had to view continued eastward expansion of NATO, particularly to Ukraine and Georgia, as a potential [[military]] threat. While Russia might believe statements from [[the West]] that NATO was not directed against Russia, when one looked at recent military activities in NATO countries (establishment of U.S. forward operating locations, etc. they had to be evaluated not by stated intentions but by potential…. While Russian opposition to the first round of NATO enlargement in the mid-1990’s was strong, Russia now feels itself able to respond more forcefully to what it perceives as actions contrary to its national interests."<ref>https://archive.ph/NV0B7</ref>}}
====U.S. biological laboratories====
