[citation needed] After a brief tenure as an Executive Director of the Atlantic Council of Georgia, an umbrella organization that brings together Georgian NGOs working on Euro-Atlantic integration issues, Sikharulidze worked for the Parliament of Georgia as a leading specialist on defense and security issues from 1996 to 2000.

[2] In March 2006, Sikharulidze was appointed the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the United States, Canada and Mexico.

[citation needed] He was recalled in December 2008 to replace, as the Minister of Defense of Georgia, Davit Kezerashvili, whose conduct during the August 2008 war with Russia had been criticized by the opposition.

[3] Sikharulidze held the post for eight months, overseeing the rebuilding of Georgia's shattered military after the war.

On August 27, 2009, he was replaced with deputy Bacho Akhalaia, a close ally of President Mikheil Saakashvili and influential Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, a decision subjected by the opposition to criticism.