Debating the Color Revolutions: A Reply to My Critics

Issue Date January 2009
Volume 20
Issue 1
Page Numbers 90-97
file Print
arrow-down-thin Download from Project MUSE
external View Citation

The debate on the color revolutions is principally about the relative importance ascribed to diffusion versus certain key structural factors. Among these factors is the extent and impact of Western pressure, which varies depending on the degree of linkage to Western Europe and the United States. In the low-linkage former Soviet states, domestic forces—notably, the strength of the incumbent state and party—have weighed more heavily. Contingent factors played a role both in mobilizing opposition and in defeating incumbents, but diffusion was only one such contingent factor, and not necessarily the most important.

About the Author

Lucan Ahmad Way is professor of political science at the University of Toronto and co-chair of the Journal of Democracy Editorial Board.

View all work by Lucan A. Way