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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
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.
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 without Title} 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 Asia n 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 without Title} 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 without Title} 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 generally consider the allegations of American or Soros influence in such revolutions as greatly exaggerated, and that the causes for such revolutions have been mostly national in nature, even if these revolutions received either support and inspiration or opposition from other nations or organizations. Some also feel that even if these revolutions were planned or directed by third nations, that doesn't diminish their moral quality, and that they were positive events regardless of who planned them. Moreover, the decentralized, strongly Internet-based nature of the revolutions suggests that any ideological or governmental organizations which might have stimulated the revolutions would have difficulty retaining control of the people involved, since that country's people would have become politicized and self-organized in the process. 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 without Title} . 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! , 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 without Title} The Yox movement chose green as its color. A second youth organization, calling itself the Orange Movement , announced its creation on 25 March , 2005, pledging its support to the opposition. {Link without Title} 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 without Title} 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, 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 without Title} 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", blue jeans being considered a symbol for freedom. Some protesters cut up jeans into ribbons and hung them in public places. [http://www.zubr-belarus.com/index.php?id=2146&lang=2 It is claimed that Zubr was responsible for coining the phrase. [http://www.publiuspundit.com/?p=2347] 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 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". On 19 April , 2005, he further commented: "All these colored revolutions are pure and simple banditry." [http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/050419184754.74ehx330 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 without Title} 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 without Title} The opposition in the , has said that if an Orange Revolution were to happen in Russia, it would begin in Bashkortostan. {Link without Title}
There has been longstanding opposition to President . See also
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