Shota Kakabadze is an Associate Professor at New Vision University, specializing in Political Science and International Relations, and a visiting lecturer in the International Relations program at the International Black Sea University.

From 2021 to 2025, he worked as a Policy Analyst at the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP). In 2023–2024, he was a postdoctoral researcher at ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Tartu, Estonia, where he also earned a Master’s degree in EU–Russia Relations.

During his doctoral studies, he was a researcher at Uppsala University’s Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies through the Swedish Institute program and a Junior Researcher at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu.

His main research interests include national identity discourses, foreign policy, and the Eastern Partnership. He has published numerous scholarly articles and book chapters on the relationship between Georgian national identity and foreign policy.