Why have “color revolutions” been so successful in overthrowing authoritarian regimes?
SP: Let us look beyond Eastern Europe, beyond the last 10 years, and the term “color revolution:” The effectiveness of “non-violent change” or “people power” has in fact been well-known ever since Mohandas Gandhi successfully ousted British colonialism, and the phenomenon continued to sweep away dictators and authoritarian regimes in Poland, Chile and Philippines and also racial segregators in USA and South Africa. The power of “nonviolent struggle” lies in mobilizing a great number of people around a common vision of tomorrow, in building a common strategy followed by effective non-violent tactics while staying on the offensive and maintaining non-violent discipline against your opponent. If those basic principles are successfully implemented, non-violent revolution becomes possible, however tough conditions on the battlefield may look. KP: Are you disappointed with the results of Serbia’s Oct. 5, 2000, revolution compared to the hopes back then? Did the murder of Zorin Dzindzic spell
