Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

From Bush’s Freedom Agenda to the Color Revolutions

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Second Cold War

  • 1189 Accesses

Abstract

The United States advanced its economic, political and military goals in the countries of the Caucasus even further through its “freedom agenda” and war on terror. This increased tensions because the policy-makers in Washington failed to respect the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation in Eurasia, threatening its geostrategic security, territorial integrity and social cohesion, and making its western borders vulnerable through the expansion of NATO. The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov warned Secretary of State Colin Powell that Washington should understand that Russia’s concerns regarding the direct involvement of American troops in Georgia’s territory were legitimate, and that disregarding them could complicate the situation in the region. In fact, the United States had established NATO’s Partnership for Peace Program (NATO-PfP) for the former Soviet republics, conducting joint military exercises in the region since 1997. All Central Asian countries joined NATO’s North American Co-operation Council (NATC). And in 1999, the United States integrated Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova into a military structure (GUUAM) that sought to create a real alternative to the Commonwealth of Independent States led by Russia. An initial step to include these countries in NATO.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Bush (2010, pp. 396–397).

  2. 2.

    Ibid., p. 397.

  3. 3.

    “It is empire. I mean, by this term, a situation in which a single state shapes the behaviour of others, whether directly or indirectly, partially or completely, by means that can range from the outright use of force through intimidation, dependency, inducements, and even inspiration.” Gaddis (1997, p. 27).

  4. 4.

    “The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is a program designed to promote political, economic, and educational development in the Middle East. This report provides an overview of the MEPI program, its perception in the Middle East, and its role in the debate over U.S. efforts to promote democracy in the Arab world. For FY2006, the Bush Administration has requested $120 million for MEPI. For FY2005, Congress appropriated $75 million for MEPI, half of the President’s original request. MEPI has received an estimated $294 million in funding since its creation in FY2002. This report will be updated as developments unfold.” Jeremy M. Sharp, The Middle East Partnership Initiative: An Overview, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Congressional Research Service Report RS21457, July 20, 2005, WikiLeaks Document Release, February 2, 2009.

  5. 5.

    U.S. Department of State, Archive, Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), available on: http://2002-2009-mepi.state.gov/

  6. 6.

    Jeremy M. Sharp, The Middle East Partnership Initiative: An Overview, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Congressional Research Service Report RS21457, July 20, 2005, WikiLeaks Document Release, February 2, 2009.

  7. 7.

    Jeremy M. Sharp, “U.S. Democracy Promotion Policy in the Middle East: The Islamist Dilemma”, Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, updated June 15, 2006, Department of The Navy—Naval Historical Center, The Library of Congress.

  8. 8.

    Stephen Zunes, “Credit the Egyptian People for the Egyptian Revolution”, Huffington Post, January 27, 2011.

  9. 9.

    Jeremy M. Sharp, The Middle East Partnership Initiative: An Overview, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Congressional Research Service Report RS21457, July 20, 2005, WikiLeaks Document Release, February 2, 2009.

  10. 10.

    Stephen Zunes, “Credit the Egyptian People for the Egyptian Revolution”, Huffington Post, January 27, 2011.

  11. 11.

    “Then God said: Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness”, Genesis 1 Latin: Biblia Sacra Vulgata, v. 27.

  12. 12.

    “Ivanov: Russia Opposed to US Troops in Georgia”, Voice of America, 27/2/2002.

  13. 13.

    Bellaigue (2012, p. 273).

  14. 14.

    Peck (2010, p. 203).

  15. 15.

    Ibid., p. 196.

  16. 16.

    Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan-Pipeline and Others: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku%E2%80%93Tbilisi%E2%80%93Ceyhan_pipeline#/media/File:Baku_pipelines.svg. Accessed 13.03.2015.

  17. 17.

    Seth Mydans, “Georgian Leader Agrees to Resign, Ending Standoff”, The New York Times, November 24, 2003.

  18. 18.

    The ambassador Richard Miles had played an important role in the toppling of Serbian President Slobodan Milošević when he headed the diplomatic mission of the United States in Belgrade, between 1996 and 1999. Afterwards, he was sent as ambassador to Minke, in Belarus, where he set up the coup against President Alexander Lukashenko. He had already operated in Azerbaijan and Bulgaria.

  19. 19.

    “The South Caucasus: A Chronological Summary of Key Events Since Independence 1991–2004”, prepared by Richard Giragosian—Abt Associates, Inc.—Bethesda, Maryland, The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC) http://www.ii.umich.edu/UMICH/asp/Home/Academic%20Opportunities/Initiatives/Conferences/South%20Caucasusu%20conf,%202004.pdf. Accessed on 20.10.2014. Seth Mydans, “Georgian Leader Agrees to Resign, Ending Standoff”, The New York Times, November 24, 2003.

  20. 20.

    Scahill (2007, p. 171).

  21. 21.

    Jones (2009, p. 317).

  22. 22.

    Ibid., pp. 317–334. Richard Carlson, “Georgia on His Mind—George Soros’s Potemkin Revolution”, The Weekly Standard, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, May 24, 2004.

  23. 23.

    Natalia Antelava, “How to stage a revolution Slobodan Djinovic watched Georgia’s ‘rose revolution’ from his home in Serbia”, BBC News, December 4, 2003.

  24. 24.

    Jonathan Steele, “Ukraine’s postmodern coup d’etat. Yushchenko got the US nod, and money flooded in to his supporters”, The Guardian, November 26, 2004.

  25. 25.

    David Anable, “The role of Georgia’s media—and Western Aid—in the Rose Revolution”, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press Politics and Public Policy, Working Paper Series, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, 2006. See for a map: The ‘Color Revolutions’. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Color_Revolutions_Map.png. Accessed 14.03.2015.

  26. 26.

    Ibid., p. 27.

  27. 27.

    Ibid., p. 24. Eileen M. O’Connor and David Hoffman, “Media in Iraq: The Fallacy of Psy-Ops”, International Herald Tribune, December 16, 2005.

  28. 28.

    George Soros’ Open Society Institute (OSI) sent two leaders of the Liberty Institute, an NGO, to meet with the leaders of OTPOR in Serbia. When they returned, the OTPOR activists trained more than 1000 Georgian students in “revolutionary techniques using good humor and peaceful subversion”.

  29. 29.

    Jonathan Steele, “Ukraine’s postmodern coup d’etat. Yushchenko got the US nod, and money flooded in to his supporters”, The Guardian, November 26, 2004.

  30. 30.

    Steven Woehrel, “Ukraine’s Political Crisis and U.S. Policy Issues”, CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RL32691, February 1, 2005.

  31. 31.

    William F. Engdahl, “Revolution, geopolitics and pipelines”, Asia Times, June 30, 2005.

  32. 32.

    USAID founded the Afghan Media Development Project (AMDEP) implemented by Internews, with a chain of four centers in Afghanistan: Anaar Multimedia Centers, in Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad and Kandahar. Internews operates in over 70 countries, subsidizing the opposition media with regime change as its main objective, and it has trained more than 80,000 journalists. Its annual budget was US$ 10 million.

  33. 33.

    Shade Hamid, “The Struggle for Middle East Democracy”, Cairo Review of Global Affairs, Brookings Institution, April 26, 2011. David Anable, “The role of Georgia’s media—and Western Aid—in the Rose Revolution”, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press Politics and Public Policy, Working Paper Series, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, 2006, p. 9.

  34. 34.

    Ibid., p. 12.

  35. 35.

    Shade Hamid, “The Struggle for Middle East Democracy”, Cairo Review of Global Affairs, Brookings Institution, April 26, 2011.

  36. 36.

    Ajay Patnaik, “Regime Change and US Geopolitical strategy in Central Asia”, Eurasia Critic, May 2008.

  37. 37.

    Gene Sharp is professor of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and director of the Albert Einstein Institution in Boston. After the Cold War, with the support of Colonel Robert Helvey, the Albert Einstein Institution held the Conference on Non Violent Sanctions at the Center for International Affairs of Harvard University. 185 specialists from 16 countries participated, among which the Israeli psychologist Reuven Gal, author of various works, such as Service Without Guns. The translation and distribution professor Gene Sharp’s book From Dictatorship to Democracy was sponsored by entities in the United States and Europe.

  38. 38.

    “Political defiance has a long and surprisingly impressive record, from the 1905 Russian Revolution to the 1986 people-power movement in the Philippines. More recently, it was the modus operandi in the colour revolutions witnessed in the early 2000s: Serbia’s Bulldozer Revolution (2000), Georgia’s Rose Revolution (2003), Ukraine’s Orange Revolution (2004), Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution (2005) and Kyrgyzstan’s Tulip Revolution (2005). These methods, and Sharp’s writings, also inspired the youth uprisings in Tunisia (Sidi Bouzid Revolt) and Egypt (25 January Revolution) in early 2011 that swept aside the aging autocrats who had stifled change in those societies for so many years. Though it cannot be denied that CPV (Collective Political Violence) is a force for systemic change, these exemplars demonstrate that there are other nonviolent—and morally preferable—mechanisms for systemic feedback and self-adjustment.” James W. Moore, “The Functions of Insurgent Violence: A Systems Perspective”, Canadian Army Journal, 14/2/2012, p. 115.

  39. 39.

    “Significantly, one of Hariri’s consultants, Mustafa al-Naser, told Iranian state news agency IRNA on Monday that ‘the assassination of Hariri is the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad’s job, aimed at creating political tension in Lebanon’.” Pepe Escobar, “The Roving Eye—How the West won Libya”, Asia Times, October 22, 2011. “‘Israeli intelligence is standing behind this crime,’ claimed German criminologist Juergen Cain Kuelbel. In his book Hariri’s Assassination: Hiding Evidence in Lebanon he wrote: ‘Syria is innocent and has nothing to do with that crime or the other assassinations.’ Kuelbel discovered that the jamming system used to disable the Hariri convoy’s electronic shield was manufactured by Netline Technologies Ltd of Tel Aviv, an Israeli company co-developed with the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli law enforcement agencies, and sold through European outlets.” Trish Schuh, “The Salvador Option in Beirut”, CounterPunch, February 8, 2007.

  40. 40.

    The cedar (Cedrus libani) is Lebanon’s national symbol and takes up the center of its flag.

  41. 41.

    Bush (2010, pp. 411–412).

  42. 42.

    Ibid., p. 412.

  43. 43.

    Niles Lathem, “Give us Liberty! Protesters Slam Syria in Massive Beirut Rally”, New York Post, March 8, 2005.

  44. 44.

    Craig Whitlock, “U.S. secretly backed Syrian opposition groups, cables released by WikiLeaks show”, The Washington Post, April 18, 2011. “USA finanzieren offenbar syrische Opposition”, Focus Nachrichten , 18/4/2011. “U.S. secretly backed Syrian opposition groups, WikiLeaks reveals—$6 million for Syrian exiles to help”, Daily Mail, April 18, 2011.

  45. 45.

    Alfred B. Prados and Jeremy M. Sharp, Syria: Political Conditions and Relations with the United States after the Iraq War, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service Report RL32727, February 28, 2005.

  46. 46.

    Julian Borger, Michael White, Ewen MaCaskill e Nicholas Watt, “Bush vetoes Syria war plan”, The Guardian, April 15, 2003.

  47. 47.

    Ibid.

  48. 48.

    Julian Borger, “Bush signals backing for Syria sanctions”, The Guardian, October 8, 2003.

  49. 49.

    Alfred B. Prados and Jeremy M. Sharp, Syria: Political Conditions and Relations with the United States after the Iraq War, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service Report RL32727, February 28, 2005.

Bibliography

  • Anable, David. “The role of Georgia’s media — and Western Aid — in the Rose Revolution”. Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press Politics and Public Policy, Working Paper Series, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antelava, Natalia. “How to stage a revolution: Slobodan Djinovic watched Georgia’s ‘rose revolution’ from his home in Serbia”. BBC News, December 4, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellaigue, Christopher de. Patriot of Persia — Muhammad Mossadegh and a Very British Coup. London: Bodley Head, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borger, Julian. “Bush signals backing for Syria sanctions”. The Guardian, October 8, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borger, Julian; White, Michael; Macaskill, Ewen and Watt, Nicholas. “Bush vetoes Syria war plan”. The Guardian, April 15, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bush, George W. Decision Points. Croydon: Virgin Books, 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, Richard. “Georgia on His Mind — George Soros’s Potemkin Revolution”. The Weekly Standard. Foundation for Defence of Democracies, May 24, 2004. http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/georgia-on-his-mind-george-soross-potemkin-revolution/. Accessed 26 Feb 2015

  • Engdahl, F. William. “Revolution, geopolitics and pipelines”. Asia Times, June 30, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Escobar, Pepe. “The Roving Eye — How the West won Libya”. Asia Times, Oct 22, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaddis, John Lewis. We Now Know. Rethinking Cold War History. New York: Clarendon Press, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamid, Shade. “The Struggle for Middle East Democracy”. Cairo Review of Global Affairs, Brookings Institution, April 26, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Ivanov: Russia Opposed to US Troops in Georgia”. Voice of America, 27 .Feb 2002. http://www.voanews.com/content/a-13-a-2002-02-27-14-ivanov-67259187/379339.html. Accessed 12 Dec 2016

  • Jones, Stephen. “Georgia’s ‘Rose Revolution’ of 2003: Enforcing Peaceful Change”. In Roberts, Adam and Garton Ash, Timothy (eds.). Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lathem, Niles. “Give us Liberty! Protesters Slam Syria in Massive Beirut Rally”. New York Post, March 8, 2005. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/give_rally_leb_erty_protesters_slam_A2mOlKuRRfkn9mQJG3N1hJ.

  • Moore, James W. “The Functions of Insurgent Violence: A Systems Perspective”. Canadian Army Journal, 14/2/2012, p. 115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mydans, Seth. “Georgian Leader Agrees to Resign, Ending Standoff”. The New York Times, November 24, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, Eileen M. and Hoffman, David. “Media in Iraq: The Fallacy of Psy-Ops”. International Herald Tribune, December 16, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patnaik, Ajay. “Regime Change and US Geopolitical strategy in Central Asia”. Eurasia Critic. May, 2008. New Delhi: lawaharlal Nehru University

    Google Scholar 

  • Peck, James. Ideal Illusions — How the U.S. Government Co-opted Human Rights. New York: Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt & Co., 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prados, Alfred B. and Sharp, Jeremy M. Syria: Political Conditions and Relations with the United States after the Iraq War. Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service Report RL32727 — February 28, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scahill, Jeremy. Blackwater. The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. New York: Nation Books, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuh, Trish. “The Salvador Option in Beirut”. CounterPunch, February 08, 2007. http://www.counterpunch.org/2007/02/08/the-salvador-option-in-beirut/. Accessed 2 March 2015

  • Sharp, Jeremy M. The Middle East Partnership Initiative: An Overview. Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Congressional Research Service Report RS21457 July 20, 2005. WikiLeaks Document Release, February 2, 2009. http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS21457. Accessed 2 March 2015

  • ______. “The Middle East Partnership Initiative: An Overview”. CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RS21457 — Updated July 20, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • ______. “U.S. Democracy Promotion Policy in the Middle East: The Islamist Dilemma”. Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, updated 15 June 2006. Department of The Navy — Naval Historical Center. The Library of Congress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steele, Jonathan. “Ukraine’s postmodern coup d’état. Yushchenko got the US nod, and money flooded in to his supporters”. The Guardian, November 26, 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  • “The South Caucasus: A Chronological Summary of Key Events Since Independence 1991-2004”. Prepared by Richard Giragosian — Abt Associates, Inc. — Bethesda, Maryland. The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC). http://www.ii.umich.edu/UMICH/asp/Home/Academic%20-Opportunities/Initiatives/Conferences/South%20Caucasusu%20conf,%202004.pdf. Accessed 20 Oct 2014

  • “U.S. secretly backed Syrian opposition groups, WikiLeaks reveals — $6 million for Syrian exiles to help”. Daily Mail, April 18, 2011. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1377999/U-S-secretly-backed-Syrian-opposition-groups-WikiLeaks-reveals.html#ixzz25Uq KUEoZ + https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-secretly-backed-syrian-opposition-groups-cables-released-by-wikileaks-show/2011/04/14/AF1p9hwD_story.html?utm_term=.d22914bc722f. Accessed 14 Dec 2016

  • “USA finanzieren offenbar syrische Opposition”. Focus Nachrichten, 18/4/2011, 11:50. http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/krise-in-der--arabischen-welt/wikileaks-usa-finanzieren-offenbar-syrische-opposition_aid_619455.html. Accessed 14 Dec 2016

  • Whitlock, Craig. “U.S. secretly backed Syrian opposition groups, cables released by WikiLeaks show”. The Washington Post, April 18, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woehrel, Steven. “Ukraine’s Political Crisis and U.S. Policy Issues”. CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RL32691 — February 1, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zunes, Stephen. “Credit the Egyptian People for the Egyptian Revolution”. Huffington Post, January 27, 2011. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-zunes/credit-the-egyptian-peopl_b_824863.html. Accessed 2 March 2015

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emeritus professor for History, University of Brasília, St. Leon-Rot, Germany

    Luiz Alberto Moniz Bandeira

Authors
  1. Luiz Alberto Moniz Bandeira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Moniz Bandeira, L.A. (2017). From Bush’s Freedom Agenda to the Color Revolutions. In: The Second Cold War. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54888-3_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation