The staunchly pro-American Saakashvili launched successful economic reforms and an all-out assault on police corruption, though he, too, eventually was accused of taking bribes and indulging autocratic impulses. Having come to power in the revolt that overthrew the corrupt Shevardnadze, he resorted to the same Soviet-style techniques – intimidating and discrediting opponents, dispersing dissenters by force – to keep his opponents at bay.
坚定奉行亲美路线的萨卡什维利成功启动了经济改革和对警方腐败的全方位治理，虽然他本人最终也被控受贿及放任独裁冲动。在推翻谢瓦尔德纳泽腐败政府的起义中上台后，他使出了一模一样的苏式手段——恐吓及抹黑对手、强行驱散持不同政见者——从而把对手逼入绝境。