Tbilisi – The City at the Centre of the World
Join us as we welcome Maximilian Hess who will discuss his new book, 'Tbilisi – The City at the Centre of the World'.
As a city Tbilisi punches far above its weight. In his new book, Maximilian Hess examines its role in shaping global culture, politics, and economic dynamics from 1989 to the present.
The Georgian capital is no stranger to history, with its location on the edge of great empires having seen battles over it control contested by almost every major power. In the 20th century, it proved a springboard to power for Josef Stalin though events in the city in 1989 greatly accelerated the collapse of the Soviet Union. More recently, it has become one of Europe’s fastest growing tourist destinations.
Max’s book argues that despite its location on the edge of Europe and Eurasia, the city is anything but peripheral today. An understanding of how the city has been shaped by contemporary history – and shaped it in turn – offers a unique microscope through which to understand not just regional but global trends.
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Meet our speaker:
Maximilian Hess is a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Associate Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and founder of Enmetena Advisory. He is a political risk consultant and writer. His first book, ‘Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict Between Russia and the West’, was awarded the 2024 US-Russia Relations Book Prize. Max is also a director of the British-Georgian Society.
Meet our discussant:
Dr William Mitchell is a historical geographer who examines European state formation and political identity since the 17th century. He uses archival and qualitative methods to uncover what medias and ideas contributed to feelings of belonging to what Benedict Anderson called ‘imagined communities’: nations, confessions, and ideologies.
Meet our chair:
Dr Paul Keenan is an Associate Professor in the Department of International History at LSE. Dr Keenan's research deals with Russia during the eighteenth century and, in particular, the role of St Petersburg in the relationship between Russia and other contemporary European states. The focus of his work is primarily on the cultural life of the city, given its role as the seat of the imperial Russian court from the early eighteenth century onwards, and the influence of European fashions or trends on both its physical development and the lives of its populace. More broadly, his research examines Russia's 'Europeanisation' in the early imperial period, both culturally and intellectually.
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