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Riots: Be careful what you wish for

The images of angry protesters gathering in the streets of Egypt and Tunisia may look similar to the color revolutions that have rocked the world in recent years. However, they differ in at least on one way: spontaneity.

“If you look more closely at the so-called people who are leading this, they are being coached. And they're being coached by the US Intelligence Services, the same way the Orange Revolution was in Ukraine or the Rose Revolution with Saakashvili in Georgia,” revealed author and researcher William Enghdal.

WHAT ARE COLOR REVOLUTIONS?

There was Georgia’s Rose Revolution in 2003, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004, the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005 and the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon in 2005. Similar opposition rebellions were attempted in Uzbekistan in 2005, in Armenia in 2008, in Moldova in 2009, and several in 2010: in Iran, in Thailand and finally in Belarus in December.

Next it was Tunisia and now Egypt, where protests continue to ripple throughout the country, in which deadly clashes with police have claimed five lives on the third day of violence. A night curfew was broken as internet access across Egypt was shut down and mobile phone services turned off in some regions.

Turmoil in Egypt appears to be inspired by the month-long chaos in Tunisia, where uprisings deposed the country's leader, left 80 dead, and led to a cabinet reshuffle. But are all of these uprisings completely different revolts, previously unheard-of political epidemics, or is there a bigger plan?

A string of revolutions – some bloodless, some not – rocked the post-Soviet space at the beginning of the 21st century. There were a number of common factors: an uprising against the regime, rooted in a popular dissatisfaction with standards of living, and also a "color" unifying theme for the protesters. Kiev’s Independence Square was the birthplace of the Orange Revolution. It promised a new dawn and major changes for the country, but ultimately all aspirations came to nothing.Hence the collective name “color revolutions”. Amazingly, the revolution outcomes have all been quite similar too.

NOTHING CHANGES FOR THE BETTER

Lawyer Grigoriy Sitenko is one of those disenchanted with the outcome of the Orange makeover.

"Nothing changed for the better, only for the worse. Viktor Yushchenko, the revolutionary hero [who became Ukrainian president in the aftermath of the revolution] got only five per cent of the votes at the next presidential election. The lowest result for an acting president in the world,” Sitenko said. He says the bright promises of the revolution’s leaders have in reality pushed the country into an abyss.

It was a similar story in Georgia, where the heady optimism of the Rose Revolution soon gave way to disappointment and eventually to mass protests. Their anger with President Saakashvili was met with a response that was all too familiar, as gas grenades and water cannons were used to quell the unrest.

And in Kyrgyzstan, the revolution of 2005 also quickly turned sour – last year saw yet another popular revolt.

THE LESSONS

But those false dawns, and bitter lessons, are far from the minds of those clamoring for change in North Africa right now.

“Danger emerges when the power overturning the government...does not have a political platform...", said Eva Golinger, editor of Venezuela’s Correo Del Orinoco newspaper. “The danger lies in the personality of those who use the revolutions in the Arab world. We have to take care that the far right or any other forces with an imperialistic mood will not take advantage of the situation.”

Experts agree that it may take some time before the world sees whether or not the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt will change things for the better in these countries. If these uprisings flop like the others, Europe will be the first to suffer from waves of immigrants.