Another attempt at a colour revolution is underway right now in Georgia
By Romegas
The term colour revolution is a euphemism employed by the west to disguise a coup d’etat. It has been successfully employed in a number of countries already – most notoriously in Ukraine in 2013, which in turn led to a civil war and now a war with Russia.
Western powers have been mightily annoyed that Georgia, itself having experienced an unnecessary and unwanted war with Russia provoked by western backers a decade previously, in which it was utterly trounced, opted to adopt a strictly neutral stance in the current conflict in Ukraine.
Subjected to threats and political pressure to abandon this neutrality (goddammit who cares what the majority of Georgians think) not least through the massive foreign funding of the so-called ‘democratic opposition’, the Georgian government felt compelled to pass a ‘foreign agent’ law.
In essence, a foreign agent law (which exists in diverse places beginning from that beacon of democracy, the USA – to Russia) obliges anyone who receives foreign funding to register himself as a foreign agent. One would think this eminently sensible, so much so that the USA itself has such a law in place – but it seems that for the USA, a law which is good enough for itself is not good for others to adopt. The EU also weighed in – telling the Georgian authorities that they can forget EU membership unless foreigners are allowed to interfere freely and wilfully in Georgian domestic politics.
Consequentially, in Georgia, foreign-funded forces have been mobilised – and they are attempting, using the same methods used elsewhere to overturn the democratically elected government of the country.
The dynamics of colour revolutions have been eminently documented. It involves the mobilisation of a highly ideological core interspersed with foreign-paid and highly ruthless agent provocateurs – who, intermingled with genuine protesters, seek to provoke the authorities to react in a disproportionate manner to further inflame sentiments and provide coverage for a pre-determined western media narrative.
Colour revolutions do not depend on any democratic legitimacy – indeed they discount it – the intention is to concentrate a critical mass that can overwhelm the authorities before citizens in the rest of the country can even find their bearings. Once this critical mass achieves its objectives of seizing power, it quickly imposes a new regime which cracks down quickly and ruthlessly on any opposition (which is usually dispersed throughout the country) while all the while enjoying the cover of western media which will portray such a ‘revolution’ as democratic.
The chances of success of a colour revolution depend on the unity of the authorities and how quickly and effectively they respond to it – in Russia in 2012 an attempt at a colour revolution failed miserably – as it likewise did in Belarus as recently as 2021 because the attempts were dealt with ruthlessly. In Ukraine, in 2013 it worked if by working we only look at short-term objectives because it clearly failed if we consider what it eventually led to. That the colour revolution ‘worked’ in Ukraine was ultimately due to the division in Ukrainian politics and perhaps most importantly – the hesitancy shown by democratically elected president Viktor Yanukovych in suppressing it.
So far, the democratically elected authorities in Georgia seem to be holding tight, perhaps they have learned a lesson or two about what happened in Ukraine and what that ultimately degenerated into. So far it seems that Georgian security forces are dealing with the so-called ‘opposition’ robustly despite the provocations by these ‘democratic’ forces which include violence including attacks with Molotov cocktails. They will have to hold tight – because soon, mark my words, it is in the script, ‘democratic protesters’ will be shot at by mysterious forces and the western media will immediately pronounce that a dictatorial government is repressing its own population which seeks nothing other than ‘freedom and democracyTM’
The next few days will be tumultuous in Georgia, the Western media will go into overdrive and the pressure will be immense – but the Georgian authorities have to hold tight – not only because democracy is ultimately settled by the ballot boxes and not by violent mobs, but at this very precarious stage, instability in Georgia will complicate and inflame affairs in the war in Ukraine – the expansion and escalation of which is in the interest of no one except demented warmongers.