Color revolution
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Color revolutions or Flower revolutions are the names given collectively to a series of related movements that developed in post-communist societies in Central and Eastern Europe and are possibly spreading elsewhere including some places in the Middle East. Their participants use mostly nonviolent resistance to protest against governments seen as entrenched and authoritarian, and to advocate democracy, liberalism, and national independence. They usually also adopt a specific color or flower as their symbol, and the protests are notable for the important role of Non-governmental organizations (NGO's) and particularly student activist organizations in organizing creative nonviolent resistance.
So far these movements have been successful in Serbia (the 2000 Bulldozer Revolution), Georgia (the 2003 Rose Revolution), Ukraine (the 2004 Orange Revolution), and (though more violent than the previous ones) Kyrgyzstan (the 2005 Tulip Revolution). Each time massive street protests followed disputed elections and led to the resignation or overthrow of leaders considered by their opponents to be authoritarian.
Color revolutions
Post-communist states
- The Bulldozer Revolution in 2000, which led to the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević. These demonstrations are considered by many to be the first example of the peaceful revolutions that followed. However, the protesters didn't adopt a color or specific symbol, and, despite the commonalities, many others refer to Georgia as the most definite beginning of the series of "color revolutions." The demonstrations were supported by youth movement Otpor.
- The Rose Revolution in Georgia, following the disputed Georgia legislative election, 2003, led to the overthrow of Eduard Shevardnadze and his replacement by Mikhail Saakashvili after new elections were held in March 2004. The Rose Revolution was supported by civic resistance movement Kmara.
- The Orange Revolution in Ukraine, followed the disputed second round of the 2004 presidential election and led to the annulment of the result and the repeat of the round—leader of the opposition Viktor Yushchenko was declared president, defeating Viktor Yanukovych. The Orange Revolution was supported by Pora.
- The Tulip Revolution, was more violent than its predecessors and followed the disputed Kyrgyz parliamentary elections, 2005. At the same time it was more fragmented than previous such revolutions. The protesters in different areas adopted different colors for their protests (pink and yellow). This revolution was supported by youth resistance movement KelKel.
Related usages in the Middle East
The following events, having taken place in the Middle East instead of post-Communist Europe and Central Asia, have nonetheless at times been described as part of the series of colored revolutions, and their popular names designed specifically to draw the parallel. Nonetheless they have marked differences with the revolutions described above, and thus their inclusion in the series of "colored revolutions" is so far not universally accepted.
- The Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, unlike the revolutions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, followed not a disputed election, but rather the assassination of opposition leader Rafik Hariri in 2005. Also, instead of the annulment of an election, it demanded the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. Nonetheless, some of its elements and some of the methods used in the protests have been similar enough that it is often considered and treated by the press and commentators as one of the series of "color revolutions".
- "Purple Revolution" was a name first used by some hopeful commentators and later picked up by United States President George W. Bush to describe the coming of democracy to Iraq following the 2005 Iraqi legislative election and was intentionally used to draw the parallel with the Orange and Rose revolutions. However, the name has not achieved widespread use in Iraq, the United States or elsewhere. The name comes from the color that voters' index fingers were stained to prevent fradulent multiple voting.
- "Blue Revolution" was a term used by some Kuwaitis [link] to refer to demonstrations in Kuwait in support of women's suffrage beginning in March of 2005; it was named after the color of the signs the protestors used. In May of that year the Kuwaiti government acceded to their demands, granting women the right to vote beginning in the 2007 parliamentary elections. [link] Since there was no call for regime change, this cannot be categorized as a true color revolution.
Influencing factors
Anti-Communist revolutions
Many have cited the influence of the series of revolutions which occurred in Central and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly the Velvet Revolution in Prague (Czechoslovakia) in 1989. A peaceful demonstration by students (mostly from Charles University) was attacked by the police - and in time contributed to the collapse of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.Student movements
The first of these was Otpor ("Resistance") in Serbia, which was founded at Belgrade University in October 1998 and began protesting against Milošević during the Kosovo War. Many of its members were arrested or beaten by the police. Despite this, during the presidential campaign in September 2000, Otpor launched its "Gotov je" (He's finished) campaign that galvanized Serbian discontent with Milošević and resulted in his defeat.Members of Otpor have inspired and trained members of related student movements including Kmara in Georgia, Pora in Ukraine, Zubr in Belarus and MJAFT! in Albania. These groups have been explicit and scrupulous in their practice of non-violent resistance as advocated and explained in Gene Sharp's writings.[link] The massive protests that they have organized, which were essential to the successes in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine, have been notable for their colorfulness and use of ridiculing humor in opposing authoritarian leaders.
Soros foundation and U.S. influence
Opponents of the color revolutions, such as the Equal Dream Portal, often accuse the Soros Foundation and/or the United States government of supporting and even planning the revolutions in order to serve western interests. It is noteworthy that after the Orange Revolution several Central Asian nations took action against the Open Society Institute of George Soros with various means -- Uzbekistan, for example, forced the shutting down of the OSI regional offices, while Tajik state-controlled media have accused OSI-Tajikistan of corruption and nepotism. [link]
Evidence suggesting US government involvement includes the USAID (and UNDP) supported Internet structures called Freenet, which are known to comprise a major part of the Internet structure in at least one of the countries - Kyrgyzstan - in which one of the color revolutions occurred.
The Guardian claimed that USAID, National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and Freedom House are directly involved. [link] Information on these organizations' websites (of which the first four are funded by the US federal budget) is consistent with these claims.
Activists from Otpor in Serbia and Pora in Ukraine have said that publications and training they received from the US based Albert Einstein Institution staff have been instrumental to the formation of their strategies.
Supporters of the color revolutions tend to consider that allegations of U.S. and Soros Foundation influence are greatly exaggerated. Some also feel that these revolutions were positive events regardless of who planned them.
Reactions and connected movements in other countries
Aram Karapetyan, leader of the New Times political party, has declared his intention to start a "revolution from below" in April 2005, saying that the situation was different now that people had seen the developments in the CIS. He added that the Armenian revolution will be peaceful but not have a color. [link].
Two movements were created in Azerbaijan in mid-2005, both seemingly inspired by the examples of Georgia and Ukraine. A youth group, calling itself Yox! (which means No!), declared its opposition to governmental corruption. The leader of Yox! said that unlike Pora or Kmara, he wants to change not just the leadership, but the entire system of governance in Azerbaijan. [link] The Yox movement chose green as its color.
A second youth organization, calling itself the Azadlig (which means Freedom), announced its creation on 25 March, 2005, pledging its support to the opposition. [link]
In November 2005, protestors took to the streets, waving orange flags and banners, to protest what they considered government fraud in recent parliamentary elections. [link]
There have been a number of protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, with participation from student group Zubr. One round of protests culminated on March 25, 2005; it was a self-declared attempt to emulate the Kyrgyzstan revolution, and involved over a thousand citizens. However, it was severely suppressed by the police which arrested over 30 people. Mikhail Marinich, a leader of the opposition, was imprisoned.
A second, much larger, round of protests began almost a year later, on March 19, 2006, soon after the presidential election. Official results had Lukashenko winning with 83% of the vote; protesters claimed the results were achieved through fraud and voter intimidation, a charge echoed by many foreign governments. [link] Protesters camped out in October Square in Minsk over the next week, calling variously for the resignation of Lukashenko, the installation of rival candidate Alaksandar Milinkievič, and new, fair elections; the crowds reached 30,000 at their peak. [link]
The opposition originally used as a symbol the white-red-white former flag of Belarus; the movement has had significant connections with that in neighboring Ukraine, and during the Orange Revolution some white-red-white flags were seen being waved in Kiev. During the 2006 protests, some took to calling it the "Jeans Revolution" or "Denim Revolution", [link] blue jeans being considered a symbol for freedom. Some protesters cut up jeans into ribbons and hung them in public places. [link] It is claimed that Zubr was responsible for coining the phrase. [link]
Lukashenko has said in the past: "In our country, there will be no pink or orange, or even banana revolution." More recently he's said "They [the West] think that Belarus is ready for some 'orange' or, what is a rather frightening option, 'blue' or 'cornflower blue' revolution. Such 'blue' revolutions are the last thing we need". [link] On 19 April, 2005, he further commented: "All these colored revolutions are pure and simple banditry." [link]
The opposition in Moldova, is reported to have hoped and urged for some kind of Orange revolution, similar to that in Ukraine, in the follow up of the Moldovan parliamentary elections, 2005, while the Christian Democratic People's Party adopted orange for its color in a clear reference to the events of Ukraine. [link]
A name hypothesized for such an event was "grape revolution" because of the abundance of vineyards in the country; however, such a revolution failed to materialize after the governmental victory in the elections. Many reasons have been given for this, including a fractured opposition and the fact that the government had already co-opted many of the political positions that might have united the opposition (such as a perceived pro-European and anti-Russian stance). Also the elections themselves were declared fairer in the OSCE election monitoring reports than had been the case in other countries where similar revolutions occurred, even though the CIS monitoring mission strongly condemned them.
On March 25, 2005, activists wearing yellow scarves held protests in the capital city of Ulan Bator, disputing the results of the 2004 Mongolian parliamentary elections and calling for fresh elections. One of the chants heard in that protest was "Let's congratulate our Kyrgyz brothers for their revolutionary spirit. Let's free Mongolia of corruption." [link]
The opposition in the Republic of Bashkortostan has held protests demanding that the federal authorities intervene to dismiss Murtaza Rakhimov from his position as president of the republic, accusing him of leading an "arbitrary, corrupt, and violent" regime. Airat Dilmukhametov, one of the opposition leaders, and leader of the Bashkir National Front, has said that the opposition movement has been inspired from the mass protests of Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. [link] Another opposition leader, Marat Khaiyirulin, has said that if an Orange Revolution were to happen in Russia, it would begin in Bashkortostan. [link]
There has been longstanding opposition to President Islam Karimov, from liberals and Islamists. The revolution in neighboring Kyrgyzstan began in the largely ethnic Uzbek south, and received early support in the city of Osh. Nigora Hidoyatova, leader of the Free Peasants opposition party, has referred to the idea of a farmers' revolution. She also said that her party is collaborating with the youth organization Shiddat, and that she hopes it can evolve to an organization similar to Kmara or Pora. [link] Another nascent youth organization in Uzbekistan is Bolga.
See also
- Non-violent revolution
- Non-violent resistance
- Carnation Revolution
- Unarmed Insurrections: People Power Movements in Nondemocracies, by Kurt Schock, (University of Minnesota Press, 2005).
External links
- [The Center for Democracy in Lebanon]
- [Central Asian Backlash Against US Franchised Revolutions] Written by K. Gajendra Singh, India's former ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan from 1992-1996.
- ["Sowing seeds of democracy in post-soviet granite" - the future of democracy in post-Soviet states] Written by Lauren Brodsky, a PhD candidate at the Fletcher School in Medford, Mass., focusing on US public diplomacy and the regions of Southwest and Central Asia.
- [United 4 Belarus Campaign] British campaign website drawing attention to the political situation in Belarus ahead of 2006 presidential elections.
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