In this investigation of the sources of the Rose Revolution in Georgia in November 2003 and presentation of the challenges the new leadership faces, the author argues that there are four contexts to the Georgian revolutionary events of 2003: first, a popular and romantic yearning among Georgians for union with Europe; second, the dismal failings of the Shevardnadze regime; third, the combined impact of global economic models and Westernisation in Georgia; and, fourth, the Soviet legacy. The role of civil society organisations, though important, was not vital to the success of the Rose Revolution. The manner in which the new leadership has tackled state-building challenges suggests the pro-Western revolution is still in a radical phase, with the imperative of state consolidation often overriding Western models of due process and democratic governance. The direction of the revolution – toward greater liberalism or radical populism – will have a major impact on regional politics and on the policies of both the US and the EU in the region.
Notes
3 The tergdaleulni were young Georgian radicals of the 1860s–1880s, who advocated realism in literature, educational reform, cultural freedom and self-government for Georgians within the empire. They got their name (literally, ‘those who had drunk from the Terek’) from the river Terek, the ostensible border between Russian and Georgia, which they crossed to receive higher education in Russian universities.
2 The national survey suggests 39% looked favorably on the courts, 39% unfavorably and 23% did not know. The figures for the political parties were 37%, 47% and 15%, and for local authorities 37%, 46% and 18%. However, the president's office got a 68% approval and the police an astonishing 70% (Georgian National Voters' Study 2005).
1 Crane Brinton was an American historian. In his classic work Anatomy of a Revolution (1938), he argues that the rise of a strong man is one of the inevitable stages of revolution.
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