In 2004, Mikheil Saakashvili was elected president in Georgia, committing to a foreign policythat would ostensibly make his country a leading example of reform and democratization inthe post-Soviet space, and a net-contributor to Euro-Atlantic security. Throughout its time inpower and until its defeat in Georgia’s 2012 parliamentary elections, the Saakashvili governmentremained steadfast in its commitment to establishing these international roles for Georgia,despite developments in both the country’s international and domestic contexts that couldplausibly have made these roles, and the foreign policy decisions deriving from them, redundant.This dissertation explores the relationship between national role conceptions (NRCs) andforeign policy stability. It demonstrates how Georgia’s NRCs as a Beacon of Liberty and a Net-Security Contributor, evolving specifically in the relationship between the Georgian and U.S.governments during these years, contributed to stability in Georgia’s foreign policy. Yet theseNRCs were also subjected to serious challenges, particularly relating to two crises ensuing overthe November 2007 riots in Tbilisi and the August 2008 war between Georgia and Russia. Inboth cases, the Georgian government was subjected to conflicting imperatives emanating fromits own role conceptions, the expectations voiced by its U.S. counterparts, and the immediatedemands of crisis decision making.Drawing on recent advances in foreign policy role theory and crisis management theory, twosocial mechanisms are developed, role location and role conflict management. Role location is along-term process of interaction between the actor and significant others, resulting in a gradualharmonization of role expectations and intentions. Role conflict management instead representsthe actor’s handling of potentially disruptive moments, raising questions about the credibilityand legitimacy of existing NRCs in the eyes of others, and confronting the actor with choicesregarding stability and change in existing NRCs.The framework is applied in an analysis of the Georgian government’s foreign policy vis-àvisthe U.S. in the years 2004-2012, with particular attention to the disruptive effects of the crisesin 2007-2008, and the actions taken to address the resulting role conflicts. The analysis drawson unique first-hand material, including interviews with members of the Georgian and U.S.foreign policy elites, confidential diplomatic correspondence and official speeches, to uncoverthe processes by which the mechanisms of role location and role conflict management playedout in Georgia’s foreign policy. The dissertation concludes that the stability in Georgia’s foreignpolicy stemmed from the fact that the two NRCs became deeply socially embedded in Georgia’srelations with the U.S. over time, but also from the Georgian government’s ability to adapt itsNRCs in response to crises, the role expectations of significant others, and contextual change.