The change of power in Georgia and Ukraine only remotely resembles velvet revolutions that took place in Eastern Europe some 15 years ago. These are not popular uprisings that change social order of a country, they are bureaucratic revolutions, as the most active part of the ruling class feels that the frameworks of the existing political and economic system are already too narrow for it.
The change of power in Georgia and Ukraine only remotely resembles velvet revolutions that took place in Eastern Europe some 15 years ago. These are not popular uprisings that change social order of a country, they are bureaucratic revolutions, as the most active part of the ruling class feels that the frameworks of the existing political and economic system are already too narrow for it.
When the Baltic countries entered NATO and the European Union a couple of years ago, many thought it was the end of the centuries-old "red line." Euro-Atlantic organizations had crossed into the former Russian and Soviet empires.
In September 2004, the Russian city of Novgorod hosted an international conference entitled Russia at the Turn of the Century: Hopes and Reality. Its organizers were the RIA Novosti news agency, the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Russia in Global Affairs, and The Moscow Times.