The task of rebuilding a country plagued by two wars with neighboring regions and a limping economy during his first year in office has been anything but easy.

Mr. Saakashvili studied law at Kiev University and the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg before earning his LL.M. from the Law School. After a year as an intern for New York City-based Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, Mr. Saakashvili's superior intellect and energy won him a job offer with the firm. He declined, choosing instead to return to Georgia to take up a political career. By 2000, President Shevardnadze had appointed him justice minister, but the young Columbia graduate resigned two years later in a remonstration of what he perceived to be widespread corruption and cronyism among the Georgian leadership. Mr. Saakashvili was soon mounting daily protests - drawing tens of thousands of discontented supporters - against parliamentary elections marred by fraudulent practices.

Mr. Saakashvili has been cultivating relations with the West. In February, he traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell. The visit also included a detour to New York, where he spoke before students during the Georgian "Rose Revolution" Colloquium organized by SIPA's Harriman Institute and the Law School.