While on business in New York last autumn, Daniel Kunin was speaking to a reporter when he received a call on his cell phone. He answered, spoke briefly in another language, and then said, "Sorry. I have to go. It's the president."
Hardly an éminence grise at age 36, Kunin has, however, carved out a unique career track as a senior advisor to the government of the republic of Georgia. Although he officially works for the government and is based in Tbilisi, Kunin is, in effect, an independent contractor paid by the United States Agency for International Development.
Eschewing the limelight, Kunin has quietly helped the former Soviet republic improve its relations with the West and receive vital foreign aid. His New York trip was part of a successful effort to sign a nearly $300 million compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation to reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth in rural regions. Funded by the United States, these grants encourage recipient countries to make choices on how to distribute funds and reward those that take steps to eliminate corruption. "Even before we received the money, it was a positive influence on governance," says Kunin.
Kunin first became interested in Georgia while at Williams College and spent his junior year there in 1990–91, just as the country was gaining independence from the USSR. He learned the distinctive Georgian language with its own highly distinctive alphabet. He also met and befriended Mikheil Saakashvili and Zurab Zhvania, then little-known politicians.
Georgia was still on Kunin's mind when he graduated from Williams in 1992. He returned there to work for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, a Washington-based nonprofit devoted to promoting democratic political institutions and elections. By this time, Zhvania had become speaker of the parliament but had little authority under the heavy hand of president Eduard Shevardnadze, a former member of the Soviet Politburo.
Although Kunin enjoyed democracy-building, he was ready to learn the "hard skills" of management and enrolled in the MBA/MALD dual-degree program offered by Tuck and Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. "Tuck skills have been invaluable," he says. "The same skills that go into running a successful business apply to political governance. It’s a way of looking at problems and coming up with solutions."
After Tuck, Kunin spent a couple years with the Boston Consulting Group in Milan, but his heart was still in international politics. it was Georgia's so-called Rose Revolution that afforded him a new opportunity. A rigged election prompted protestors to seize the parliament building, and Saakashvili, the rightful winner, was sworn in as president in January 2004. Zhvania became prime minister. And so Kunin went back to Georgia, this time as an advisor to his friends in high places.
Since the Rose Revolution, Georgia has made great strides in eliminating corruption. Kidnappings of foreigners, once common, ceased virtually overnight. "I feel very safe," says Kunin. Georgia's increasingly close ties to the United States were underscored by President George W. Bush's visit, a visit Kunin organized.
While the country still faces huge challenges, the future looks promising. Kunin notes that the tax and legal structures are welcoming for investment; there's no need to form joint ventures and no currency controls, for example. But even more important are the prospects for peace, which grow every day. "My work here is to support peace," he says. "After at least another year, I may return to the private sector and to my ideal career scenario: live in Vermont, travel, and bring U.S. business to Georgia."
