The research project aims to analyse the relations of the Georgian political elite with imperial/post-imperial Russia in light of the comparative study of the Polish case. Within the project, the long period from the end of the 18th century up to the contemporary situation will be reviewed. Assumptions accumulated in post-colonial and post-Soviet studies and the elite theory will be used as a theoretical frame. Through the project implementation, the extensive collective monograph dedicated to the transformation of the Georgian political elites’ attitudes with regard to the foreign policy choice of the country will be written. The essence of the project team's approach to the subject is historicism, i.e. believing that equating different epochs and personalities and acting within these epochs is nothing but anachronistic. The concrete objective is to outline the ever-transforming social, ideational, economic, cultural, and political motives of the Georgian ruling class in relations with Tsarist, Soviet and post-Soviet Russia.