Non-Resident Senior Fellow
Mikheil (Misha) Darchiashvili has more than 25 years of experience in international relations, national security, defense policy, and international development, including senior positions in the Georgian government and diplomatic service. He is currently Dean of the School of Law and Politics and a professor at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), where he has also served as a member and Chair of the Governing Board. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies – Estonia (GFSIS-E) and Chair of the Governing Board of the Atlantic Council of Georgia.
From 2013 to 2014, Mr. Darchiashvili served as Georgia's Deputy Minister of Defense, responsible for international relations and defense policy and planning. In this capacity, he co-chaired the U.S. - Georgia Bilateral Defense Working Group, helping advance bilateral defense cooperation and strategic dialogue between the two countries. His responsibilities also included supporting Georgia's NATO integration efforts and strengthening defense partnerships with NATO Allies.
Prior to his appointment as Deputy Minister, Mr. Darchiashvili served at the Embassy of Georgia in Washington, D.C., from 2008 to 2013, first as Senior Counselor and subsequently as Minister Plenipotentiary. From 2004 to 2008, he was posted to Georgia's Mission to NATO in Brussels, serving as First Secretary and later as Political Counselor. He began his diplomatic career in 2001 at Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he held several positions in the Political-Military Department.
From 2015 to 2025, Mr. Darchiashvili worked on USAID-funded programs supporting good governance and institutional development at the national and local levels in Georgia. He also served as a Senior Expert on the EU-funded project in Georgia.
Mr. Darchiashvili is the co-author of Georgia's student guidebooks on hybrid warfare and security and defense sector governance. He is a recipient of the Gold Medal of the Polish Armed Forces in recognition of his contributions to strengthening of bilateral defense relations between Georgia and Poland.
He holds a master's degree in public administration from GIPA and is an alumnus of the Leadership Academy for Development (LAD), offered through Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) in collaboration with the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC).
