On Nov. 28, 2024, Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party announced the suspension of the country’s European Union accession process until 2028 — a move widely viewed as a betrayal of the nation’s long-standing aspirations to join Western alliances. Within an hour of the announcement, protesters flooded Tbilisi’s central thoroughfare in defiance of what they saw as a dangerous pivot away from the country’s pro-Western trajectory.

In response, the United States suspended its Strategic Partnership with Georgia, with the State Department warning that the decision made the country more vulnerable to Kremlin influence. However, Washington’s reaction was largely symbolic, failing to deter the Georgian government. This marked a failure of deterrence on the part of the Biden administration, which, despite repeated warnings, failed to impose meaningful consequences on Georgian Dream’s leadership.