Georgia as a Black Sea Connectivity Node of the Middle Corridor

Introduction . The article considers the Middle Corridor (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route) as a form of “connectivity policy”, in which material infrastructure (ports, corridors, cables) redefines the place of Georgia and its Black Sea region in the configuration of power and regional security. Georgia, which has port and transit infrastructure at the junction of the Black Sea and Caspian basins, acts as a hub for competing European, Chinese, Turkish and regional projects that affect the socio-economic dynamics and identity of the Black Sea region. Materials and Methods . The methodological basis is made up of systemic and comparative political approaches, elements of geoeconomic analysis and concepts of social and political philosophy of space (subjectivity, power, center/periphery, “competing connectivities”). The empirical base includes strategic documents of Georgia in the field of transport, materials of the EU and international financial institutions on Trans-Caspian and Black Sea connectivity, as well as studies on the port of Anaklia and energy and digital corridors. Results . The National Transport and Logistics Strategy 2023−2030 transfers the transit role of Georgia from a “natural” geographical advantage to a managed national project and consolidates the Georgian Black Sea region as a key hub of the Middle Corridor. The growth of container processing and the creation of a joint operator of the railway segment are interpreted as the institutionalization of a new configuration of the regional space; the EU and Chinese involvement infuses infrastructure with competing political meanings. Discussion and Conclusion . Georgia’s strategic benefit is determined not only by the volume of investments but also by the nature of its subjectivity: the ability to ensure transparency of governance, balance the interests of external actors and take into account the consequences for local communities.