Recent events in the South Caucasus show how the authoritarian playbook is exported and adapted to suit local contexts. For Moscow, the South Caucasus has always been more than a neighboring periphery, it is an enduring obsession. Today, the Kremlin’s desire to assert control in the South Caucasus is as strong as ever. The divergent responses—ranging from defiance to accommodation—highlight how the authoritarian playbook is being adapted, contested, and exported across the region. Georgia: The authoritarian laboratoryGeorgia presents the starkest illustration of both the Kremlin’s enduring shadow and the systematic deployment of authoritarian tactics.