Dr Alexander Rondeli was one of Georgia’s most respected figures and much admired in Georgia and throughout the world. He was a leading political analyst and foreign policy adviser, academic and writer, mentor and ambassador for those who came to Georgia since independence, and an inspiration to so many who took his influential and popular classes at the Tbilisi State University. In 1998 he helped found the highly respected think tank, the Georgian Foundation of Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS) with the aim of “helping improve public policy decision-making in Georgia through research and analysis, training of policymakers and policy analysts, and public education about the strategic issues, both domestic and international, facing Georgia and the Caucasus”. He was a man of charisma and passion and his insights, wisdom and humour will be sorely missed. Condolences