It covers the former Soviet republics comprehensively, including republics such Colour Revolutions in the Former Soviet Republics Successes and failures Edited (Routledge contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe series; 23) Includes.
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The second element he outlines is effectiveness, i. Russian behaviour appears to be consistent with this theoretical framework. The successful operations that Russia has managed to undertake abroad function as a factor of external legitimation of its domestic politics, namely a strong, authoritarian presidency that suppress dissent in the name of internal stability whilst at the same time achieving important foreign policy goals. Effectiveness is another mechanism which can be highlighted in the analysis of authoritarian diffusion applied to Russia.
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The strong grip on power that President Vladimir Putin has demonstrated since his election in has been an element of inspiration for other illiberal countries in the FSU. The colour revolutions provide again an example of how autocrats in the region have learnt from Russia how to hold on power, and have turned to Russia for help.
Having assessed the relevance of appropriateness and effectiveness as explanatory factors, the essay will now turn to the analysis of relations among Russia and countries in the post-Soviet space and will try to demonstrate that authoritarian diffusion was pivotal in counter-democratisation efforts. Moscow saw the challenges to friendly governments following the revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan as a plot orchestrated by the Unites States in order to weaken Russia, disguised as democracy promotion Wilson , and feared the outcomes for two reasons.
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Firstly, Moscow was worried that the rise to power of pro-Western regimes would result in a rapprochement of these states with the West and in closer relations with Western institutions such as NATO and the EU. Thus, the colour revolutions were interpreted by Russia as a potential existential threat both to its domestic and its foreign policies.
This model has proved successful in Russia, where the liberal opposition against Putin has been constantly marginalised, whereas opposition parties elected in the parliament are compliant with the regime Sakwa The latter is a clear example of the process of authoritarian norm diffusion, since the ruling party is inspired by United Russia, from the structural organisation to the formation of youth group modelled on Nashi, the pro-Kremlin youth association created in order to tame young political activists.
The Kazakhstani ruling party, Nur Otan, has adapted to the changing environment following the colour revolutions in an attempt to avoid the spread of democratisation. Thus, it has allowed party primaries and committees to reinforce the ties with civil society, as United Russia had done a few years before Roberts Tolstrup has demonstrated how Russia intervened in the elections of Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine in order to support the pro-Kremlin candidates.
He underlines how elections represent a moment of uncertainty when the survival of a regime is in danger, a fact that would explain why Russia felt the need to lend support to generally stable autocracies. This account shows how authoritarian regimes were threatened by what they perceived as a wave of democratisation, and learnt from Russia and even acquiesced to direct Russian intervention in their countries. A more indirect mechanism of authoritarian diffusion is the lack of effective electoral laws in post-Soviet states.
This process of normative diffusion does demonstrate the indirect appeal that Russian authoritarianism exercised over the newly formed states, particularly seducing for elites seeking to maintain power and stability.
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The adoption of these laws prevented the organisations of free elections and thus the formation of civil society movements and opposition parties that could challenge the incumbent regimes. This theory has been proposed by Vladislav Surkov, Deputy Chief of Staff in the presidential administration, who argued that Russia does not have to follow the Western ideal of democracy, but needs to create its own model that reflects its historical specificities, balancing democratic methods with the concern on the respect of sovereignty March Authoritarian diffusion had a profound impact in the context of resistance to the colour revolutions.
Both the process of normative diffusion and the active involvement of external actors in the domestic politics of weaker autocratic states help explain the failure of such revolutions to propagate. However, as useful as this concept can be, an exclusive focus on the international propagation of autocracy risks neglecting and obscuring the importance of other elements. Firstly, external forms of influence must be understood not as isolated variables, but in conjunction with internal structures of illiberal states.
Part of the literature on the topic fails to acknowledge the interplay between internal and external factors and focuses exclusively on international mechanisms of influence Tolstrup ; Von Soest However, international contacts between states cannot account for regime adaption and survival by themselves. External influences per se cannot change radically the politics of an autonomous state, since too strong an acquiescence to the will of, or dependence on a more powerful state would entail a loss of legitimacy and endanger the stability of the regime itself.
Internal structures of the post-Soviet states were in fact central factors in halting attempts at democratisation in the region. Elites obviously constitute the main actors in this respect, since these states are highly autocratic. Elites have to be receptive to the export of authoritarianism Ikenberry and Kuchan in order for external influence to produce concrete results.
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That was the case with Belarus in On the contrary, Russia decided not to interfere in the Moldovan elections of precisely due to a general embitterment of the relations between the two states Tolstrup The Moldovan regime was not in danger of collapsing, so the ruling elites were opposed to aids from Moscow that would have subjected the country to an even stronger dependency on its great power neighbour. Furthermore, the majority of the new states borne out of the collapse of the Soviet Union had never experienced democratic governance, and regime stability has mainly been preferred to popular participation in the management of the government.
Thus, democracy could not easily take roots in societies that had historically witnessed a high degree of state control. The absence of an active civil society and of effective opposition groups resulted in the lack of a real political alternative to the incumbent regime.
Secondly, the efficacy of authoritarian diffusion is contingent on the domestic society of the recipient state. In the case of Russia, any direct interventions to support a friendly government in a country where large sectors of the population are suspicious of Russian influence and see it as merely an instance of post-Soviet imperialism can backfire and result in an increase in anti-Russian sentiments Way Authoritarian diffusion must be understood not as a one-way process whereby a more powerful actor exerts influence over a recipient state, but rather as a complex, multi-directional mechanism of norm diffusion.
In his analysis of Central Asian states, he shows that they do not merely imitate Russian policies, but they have sometimes preceded them. For instance, they strengthened their repressive and illiberal regimes in the s, while Russia was undergoing a period of democratic reform. Thus, Russia may have been inspired by its neighbours as well as inspiring them. Interdisciplinary studies on Central and Eastern Europe; Companjen, F; Polese, A Subtle Line between Self-defence and War: OBeachain, D; Polese, A Who has the right to forbid and who to trade?
Making sense of illegality on the Polish-Ukrainian border. Polese, Abel; Rodgers, Peter The Role of Informal Economic Practices. Language and identity in Ukraine: Studies of Transition States and Societies, OBeachain, Donnacha; Polese, Abel What Happened to the Colour Revolutions? Authoritarian Responses from Former Soviet Spaces.
Dichotomies between citizenship and nationality: A Polese, O Seliverstova Ucraina, fiabe senza frontiere.
Fiabe, leggende e miti nella memoria dei popoli Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Cosa muove le rivoluzioni colorate? East - Europe Asia Strategies, 1.
CV: Abel Polese
The formal and the informal: Issledovanie razlichnoy prirody nezakonnikh tranzaktsii v Ukraine. Rethinking Colour Revolutions Successes and Failures What's in a Colour? The Guest at the Dining Table: The International Encyclopaedia of revolution and Protest: Firouz, Oma; Polese, Abel Etienne de la Boetie. Polese, Abel; Wylegala, Anna Odessa and Lvov or Odesa and Lviv: How Important is a Letter? Totalitarismus und Demokratie, Where are all the Communists Gone? Uwe Backes and Patrick Moreau Ed.
An Analysis of Ukraine in American Boots and Russian Vodka: Determinants of Ukrainian Political Orientation: Coloured Revolutions in Eurasia Man of the Global South: Enciclopedia del ' Paying for a Free Education. Isaacs, Rico; Polese, Abel 0. Date of birth Tallinn Law School, Senior Researcher 0, Culture and Society; 2.
VFP "Around the Caspian: A multidisciplinary and multilevel analysis of development policies and their effect in the post-socialist world 1. Varimajanduse olemuse uurimus endise NSVL piirkonnas. Tensions - Postsovetlikud pinged: Uued suunad noorsoouuringutes Eestis: