Over 30 years since its signing, the Budapest Memorandum achieved its immediate goal of curbing nuclear proliferation in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. But the agreement’s actual provisions for Ukraine's benefit – not to mention the Memorandum's greater objective of a peaceful, stable Europe – lie in tatters because of Moscow's revanchist aggression and Washington's reckless diplomacy.

After the local elections on October 4th, the Georgian Dream has proven itself to be a democratic nightmare. Through vote buying, intimidation, and likely Russian interference, the democratic experiment in Georgia is likely over or at the very least coming to a close. When looked in comparison to the extremely reformist President Mikheil Saakashvili, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's claims of reform fall flat as his vote buying, intimidation, and now mass arrests of opposition leaders and protestors shows that his party, the Georgian Dream, cares more about power rather than membership in the European Union, the strength of Georgian democracy, or Georgian civil society.