How color revolutions are prepared
For the successful implementation of the color revolution, which most often ends with a coup d'état, three conditions are required: the presence of opposition in the national elite, prepared headquarters and a passionate majority in the capital.
WORK WITH NATIONAL ELITE
The National Democratic Institute of the USA (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) made a big “contribution” to the development of Russian parliamentarism and the training of state officials and deputies of the State Duma. Approximately 3000 of reformist-minded political activists (“NG-diplomat” No. 10 (30) from 22.03.01) passed through American trainings. However, at the end of 1995, NDI and IRI lost up to 90% of their “clients” in the State Duma due to the inability of all reformist parties except Yabloko to overcome the 5% threshold. In 1996, the program was stopped. Then the United States redirected its "help" from long-term plans for parliamentary development to the specific administration of Russia with the help of this right. According to the testimony of the Central Control and Financial Department (GAO), the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), for whose activities in Russia the US government allocated 58 million dollars, has developed projects for "hundreds of decrees" of the President of Russia.
As stated in the GAO report, HIID advocated the widespread use of this right, since, according to the “Harvard wise men,” it was the decrees that promoted reforms. For this it was necessary to save Boris Yeltsin as president.
A group of American consultants led by Richard Drezner participated in the preparation and conduct of the presidential election campaign of Boris Yeltsin in 1996. According to Drezner himself, he regularly reported on work being carried out directly to the White House through presidential aide Bill Clinton and strategist for his election campaign, Dick Morris. Confessions of Drezner and Morris, obviously, should be considered as an indirect confirmation of the veracity of the message made by the Washington Times 27 March 1996. The newspaper referred to the secret memorandum of US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott on the closed meeting of the presidents of Russia and the United States in Egypt 13 in March 1996 at the summit on the fight against terrorism. Yeltsin appealed to Clinton for support, and the latter promised him assistance in the election campaign. The historian and political scientist Michael Beshloss and Strobe Talbott, as well as Rem Krasilnikov, who in 1979 – 1992 headed the First (American) department of the Second Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR (counterintelligence), bring this same fact to their books.
A team of American consultants settled at the President Hotel, at Yeltsin’s election headquarters, which was led by Anatoly Chubais and Tatyana Dyachenko. Advisors from the United States used all the information flowed into the headquarters, maintained regular communication with the administration of Bill Clinton. The US embassy and the CIA station in Moscow did not appear to have participated in this process for conspiracy. These facts were refuted by Anatoly Chubais, Tatyana Dyachenko, Sergey Filatov, Georgy Satarov, Vyacheslav Nikonov (former assistant to the KGB chairman Vadim Bakatin). In particular, Vyacheslav Nikonov told the American correspondent: “This is a hell of a lie. There (in the President Hotel. - LG) there are no foreigners. ” But this sounds unconvincing in light of the recognition of Drezner himself about the active participation of his group in the election campaign and the use of the President Hotel’s issue in this regard.
The work of the Harvard Institute for International Development in Russia ended in May 1997 with an international scandal. As a result of an internal investigation, the United States Agency for International Development revealed unpleasant facts. It turned out that Andrei Shleifer and Jonathan Hay, who were part of the HIID project in Russia, were actively involved in personal enrichment and, “breaking the confidence of the United States government”, used the tools and communications of the program for speculative games on the Russian securities market.
The radical Democrats' latest defeat at the 1999 parliamentary elections of the year and Vladimir Putin’s victory in the presidential election made the US administration's inevitable re-evaluation of the results of American policy toward Russia.
The training of future national leaders continued in the US under the Open World program. It is funded by the US Congress, organized by the Open World Leadership Center at the Library of the US Congress and the American Councils for International Education. The program’s official website lists the 19 member countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. As of December 2014, 850 people from Ukraine passed training in the USA, including judges of the Supreme Court, journalists, lawyers, “election experts”, representatives of NGOs; from Georgia - 535 people. The most ambitious was the participation of oppositionists from Russia. From July 1999 to September 2014, 19 trainings from thousands of people from 83 regions of the Russian Federation took place in the USA.
The program was suspended by the Russian authorities at the end of September 2014. It continues in Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Ukraine, the Washington Post reported in October 2014.
HEADS & ACTIVISTS
Great work on the preparation of staffs and opposition activists in Ukraine is carried out by the NGO "Institute for Political Education". Its partners are foreign foundations: Robert Schumann (The Robert Schuman Foundation, France), Konrad Adenauer (Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung eV, Germany), Hanns Seidel (Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, Germany), Alcide de Gasperi (The Alcide de Gasperi Foundation, Italy), Westminster Foundation for Democracy (Westminster Foundation for Democracy - WFD, United Kingdom), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland (Polish Aid Program), dozens of other national and international organizations .
The Institute prepares young people to work as members of election commissions and official observers, candidates for deputies of local councils, managers of municipal administration, party and public work.
Geography lesson from American Open World experts for Ukrainian guests. Photos from the Open World page on Twitter
The educational process uses the experience of the Serbian “Otpor!”, The Belarusian “Zubr”, the Georgian “Kmara” and invites representatives of these organizations as trainers. It was used, in particular, during the creation of the public youth organization “Pora!”. One of the founders, Alexey Tolkachev, said that in December 2003, the Kiev opposition activist had established contact with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) through his representative, Ukrainian émigré in Greece, Oleg Kiriyenko. WFD provided a grant in the amount of 64 thousand pounds sterling to organize and conduct a series of training seminars for young people in all regions of Ukraine. The two-day seminars were held in February – March 2004 of the year under the leadership of the administrative team, which included Alexey Tolkachev, Andrey Ignatov and Viktor Gumenyuk. At the insistence of Oleg Kiriyenko, representatives of the Lviv opposition youth group "Resistance to Youth" Vladimir Vyatrovich, Yarina Yasinevich and Andrei Kogut were brought to work. Under the guise of "teaching youth PR methods in public work" they visited Zaporozhye, Kherson, Nikolaev, Simferopol, Poltava, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Lutsk and other cities.
In fact, Tolkachev continues to recall, the seminars were devoted to completely different issues. On the first day, the invited coordinators of the Serbian organization “Otpor!” Stanko Lazendic and Alexander Maric shared their experiences in overthrowing the Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. The coordinator of the opposition movement “Zubr” Vlad Kobets introduced the Belarusian experience of fighting the “Lukashenka regime”. On the second day, the coaches gave lectures on the state of affairs in Ukraine and motivated the participants to an active struggle.
The activists received practical training in Serbia in the spring of 2004. Andrei Yusov, a member of the coordination center, claims that 18 people participated in a seminar organized for them by the leaders of the Otpor! Movement in Novi Sad, at their own expense. However, the lack of information about sources of funding has led to the assumption of receiving funds from Western sponsors.
At the expanded meeting of the administrative group in Kiev 8 in March 2004, they decided to form a public youth organization - the civil campaign “It's time!”. Her practical activities began on the night of 28 on 29 in March of 2004, from sticking black-and-white leaflets to 20 regional centers simultaneously.
The founders of the campaign hoped for 6 – 12 months of purposeful work using marketing technologies and negative propaganda to lure masses of people into street protests. The mass media and the numerous mobilized public groups played the role of a multiplier of negativity in relation to the system.
In parallel with the spring of 2004, the leader of the Freedom of Choice coalition, Vladislav Kaskiv, launched his movement in Transcarpathia. Initially, his movement was called the “Wave of Freedom”, and the main goal was to provide foreign grants with “fair and transparent” elections. However, Vladislav Kaskiv soon renamed his “Wave of Freedom” to the civil campaign “Pora!” And began to print yellow leaflets with the Pora! Logo. Thus, two movements appeared in Ukraine at once. They began to be called: "Black Pora" (leader - Mikhail Svistovich) and "Yellow Pora" (leader - Vladislav Kaskiv).
In May, Gene Sharp's work “From Dictatorship to Democracy” was translated into Ukrainian and widely distributed among young people. He became a reference book of activists. At numerous trainings, thousands of information leaflets were produced, prepared on the basis of Sharp's book, on methods of non-violent resistance and countering provocations.
After the events on the Maidan in 2004, the “Black Time” was transformed into a public organization, and the “Yellow Time” - into the political party “The Time!”.
The Institute of Political Education actively continued to train opposition activists in Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and Russia. In 2006, the institute staff held seminars in these countries for candidates for deputies of local councils. In 2007, seminars continued with the involvement of leading experts from the European Union. In 2008 – 2009, training seminars were held for deputies of local councils.
CROWD MOBILIZATION
For the revolution, it is not the mobilization of the majority of citizens of the country that is important, but an organized and passionate majority in the capital. It was pro-Yushchenkovskiy, ideologically motivated, accustomed to the street, with an organized and disciplined core in the face of the “Pora!” Party, which ensured the ultimate success of the Orange Revolution. Its driving force was the nationally-oriented student body, the entrepreneurial class, the intelligentsia of the capital, the western and partly central regions of Ukraine.
The main component of the protest of both the first and second Maidan lies in the economic plane. Everything else — nationalism, European integration, “fair elections” —that is just external rhetoric. But this rhetoric is extremely important in order to reach a compromise between various political forces. In December, according to various estimates, about 1,5 million people came to the protest actions in Kiev, given the fact that the majority of the protesters came out one-time. Approximately 10% were ready for action and regular work. These are the data of a sociological survey that was conducted in Ukraine by 4 – 9 in December of the Association of Political Psychologists of Ukraine, together with the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine.
In the Republic of Belarus, the work on mobilizing people for mass demonstrations takes place mainly in the conditions of the underground. In accordance with Section 193-1 of the Criminal Code, the organization of activities or participation in the activities of any foundation that has not passed state registration in the prescribed manner shall be punished with a fine or arrest or imprisonment for up to two years. The Belarusian opposition is forced to work in the underground. Therefore, much attention is paid to the illegal form of work and compliance with conspiracy. Training of opposition activists is carried out by remote method.
This experience is used in Russia. With the support of NED in Moscow, for example, the collection “The Partisan Republic. Protest actions in Minsk 19 – 25 March 2006 of the year ”, intended“ for students of humanities, historians, journalists, political scientists ”. In reality, this is a manual for participants in mass protests, prepared on the basis of CANVAS materials. It provides recommendations on how to prepare for participation and participate in rallies and demonstrations, how to behave during arrest and in the case of delivery to law enforcement agencies.
In the same collection the “Memo” was printed for the participant of rallies and demonstrations. Here are the recommendations it contains.
At the rally, do not stand near the garbage containers, bins, baby strollers, orphan suitcases - often in these places laid explosives. In a rarefied crowd drift to its outskirts, in a monolithic current, on the contrary, keep closer to the center.
On the square, hold in groups of 5 – 10 people. If a “hapun” (detention) began, 10 people “twist” is not as easy as two or three people, besides 10 will create more noise, and the noise is journalists and an international scandal. Call for help when people with or without a uniform pull.
After the rally, you need to leave in groups of at least five or six people. It is better to leave in dozens, such even with their active participation try not to touch. The staff of law enforcement agencies is limited. Make it difficult for them to work as much as possible; go in groups for as long as possible - two or three stops. Effectively together get into the bus. Accompany the activists. If any people stood out at the rally activity, be sure to accompany them. The police also noticed them and will try to “knit”. Accompany them with as many people as possible and as long as possible - this way you provide yourself and them with security.
Activists of the Ukrainian movement “Pora!” Were preparing for a tough confrontation of power. Reuters Photos
Further in the "Partisan Republic ..." given detailed instructions on the use of force in the event of a fight at a rally. For this, groups of three to four people are formed, and roles are distributed among them. In the rear of "their" should remain the weakest and women. In case of emergency, they can simply pin down those lying on the ground, and their squeal in such a situation always pushes men to fulfill their main function in nature - the protection of women.
In 2007, CANVAS published a Handbook on Effective Non-Violent Struggle for Students. It has been translated into Spanish, French, Arabic and Persian.
Documentary and biographical “educational” films produced by York Zimmerman Inc. are distributed on the World Wide Web. (Washington, DC, USA), such as "The Power Overcoming" (2003), and "The overthrow of the dictator: from dictatorship to democracy" (2003).
The goals of mass preparation of youth for the opposition struggle are a computer game, a book and a film, united under the general name “A Force More Powerful” (AFMP). They appeared at different times as a result of the interaction of specialists from the American International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) with York Zimmerman Inc and Break Away Games. AFMP is said to be “the first and only game to teach methods of influencing or changing the political environment in non-violent ways.” It is intended for use by activists and leaders of resistance and opposition movements. The game unlocks the potential of nonviolent action and serves as a tool for modeling and researching nonviolent resistance. It contains an editor of countries and dictators. It is noteworthy that American developers included Russia in the list of countries with historical precedents of such a struggle. The support site has guides on revolutionary activities - resistopedia, as well as an English-language support forum where you can exchange experiences.
As one of the founders of Otpor!, Ivan Marovich, said, “the game will help the opposition more than movies or literature, as activists will be able to simulate different situations and try out different strategies before trying them in action. And a person spends more time with a computer than with a movie or a book. ”
The reference book for the Belarusian opposition was the collection “Belarusian Conspirator” (white - “Kanspіratar Belarus”). Again, for purposes of conspiracy, the printed book has a nondescript dust jacket, which says: “Kirov College of Agriculture. Basics of life safety. Accepted by the district ideology department as a methodological material for teaching in institutions providing vocational education. ” As authors, the fictional characters of the X-Files television series and The Matrix movie trilogies are listed.
The compilers continued the traditions laid down by the Polish Small Conspirator, which helped the activists of Solidarity "fight the dictatorship." The annotation to the “Small conspirator” states that it is “a textbook for the fighters against the communist regime in Poland of the 1980s, one of the best textbooks on the fight against totalitarianism of modern types”. Most of the articles are devoted to conspiracy, security and rules of conduct in various life situations, including during the conduct of investigative actions by representatives of law enforcement and intelligence agencies. According to the Assembly of Non-Governmental Organizations, a whole “conspiracy school” has appeared in Belarus, where trainers of the Belarusian opposition are trained.
FORMATION OF FIGHTING BATTLES
The forceful solution of tasks during mass street performances is assigned to special fighting opposition units, which are formed from sports fans and members of various extremist organizations. At the same time, they can legalize their activities through the organization of clubs of interest officially approved by the authorities, for example, healthy lifestyle clubs, fitness clubs, historical reconstruction clubs, private sports and similar civil associations. Along with the completely “innocuous” activity, these clubs are engaged in educating people whose task is to protect the protesters, or, on the contrary, attack the participants of street processions and rallies, representatives of law enforcement bodies standing in a cordon, and also to solve other power tasks. Since the First Russian Revolution (1905 – 1907), this topic has been the most closed in Soviet historiography. Little is known about how fighting squads were formed, by what paths rifles, revolvers, grenades and machine guns got to them. Even today, this information is of a fragmentary nature, but the results were clearly visible during the two Kiev Maidans. As Dmitry Yarosh asserted at the beginning of February 2014, “Right Sector” concentrated an entire arsenal in his hands weapons, which "is enough to protect all Ukraine from internal occupiers."
The second Maidan in Kiev did not invent anything new in the organization of combat detachments and combat work in general. He only successfully used the previously gained experience and enriched the tactics of street fighting with new methods.
During the Orange Revolution, the “strike unit of Maidan” was supposed to be “It's time!”. Its tasks included the seizure of buildings of the presidential administration, the Cabinet and other government structures, the blocking of government agencies. The activists gathered detachments from among former Afghans, special forces, current policemen and simply strong desperate men. Hundreds of bottles of “Molotov cocktails” were stored in, thorough plans were drawn up for the central part of Kiev, including underground utilities. An organized mass of people on the street had the strength and means to storm the building of the presidential administration on Bankova Street.
28 February 2015 of the year in the Norkin List program on NTV well-known political analyst Sergey Kurginyan said: "... Yarosh (at that time Dmitry Yarosh headed the Ukrainian radical nationalist organization Right Sector, banned in Russia. - LG) collaborates with CANVAS ... Now CANVAS is very busy in Russia. Boris Nemtsov, unfortunately, said the strange words of February 10 that he was afraid that the authorities would kill him. Immediately after this, this topic is discussed by Yarosh and representatives of CANVAS. Then representatives of CANVAS come to Russia, among these representatives there is a man, a Serb, “Atsa” is his nickname (Alexander “Atsa” Kazun, lives in the USA, works in CANVAS. - LG), who was taken from the Kharkov bombing, and then released by Turchinov. " These words suggest reflections on the foreign track in the preparation of power actions.
CANVAS experience is also enjoyed by many Russian nationalist movements. One of these has existed since 2008. The official website of the organization is registered in the domain zone of Western Samoa.
The creation of combat detachments, in the opinion of the leaders of this organization, begins with the formation of cells according to the principle “Better less, yes better!”. The trainers recommend that the formation of cells take into account the mental and physical abilities of people, their level of awareness of their goals and the degree of possession of information. Based on these selection criteria, the participants included in the cell are divided into associates (core, asset, center) and supporters (sympathizers, candidates for the core, members of the movement). The active members of a cell (associates) are formed from capable, reputable people. The main requirement for colleagues is self-discipline and discipline within the team.
The cells are combined into groups with a branched structure. In the process of building a capable group, it is recommended to rely on three structural pillars: the idea, strength, and finance. Due to this, the maximum efficiency and full use of the capabilities of each person is achieved, taking into account his willingness to perform certain duties.
The ideological department, according to the trainers, is the most responsible in the group. The main function of the department is the formation and dissemination of ideas of the movement in accordance with the realities of today. The ideological department should promote the organization of events (tournaments, meetings, seminars, etc.) and control their ideological orientation, as well as the ideological orientation of the work of the group as a whole. The ideological department organizes interaction with other organizations similar in outlook in the region.
The power department is the core of the group. His task is to create his own sports center (gym), in which he regularly holds free-of-charge training for comrades-in-arms and supporters in hand-to-hand combat, boxing, wrestling, rugby, other contact sports, military sports games, etc. One of the main tasks of this department is to spread the ideas of a healthy lifestyle. Health and strength should become fashionable, attractive to young people. The department’s duties include regular holding of tournaments, military sports events, and the dissemination of healthy lifestyle ideas among schoolchildren and young people. He interacts with military-patriotic sports clubs that support healthy lifestyle ideas and movement ideas. Members of the security department ensure order at events.
The economic department solves the problems of financial support of the group. Money is required to pay for renting the gym, travel to the venue, organizing tournaments, as well as sports equipment, literature, office equipment. The department’s responsibilities include attracting entrepreneurs and businessmen to financing and sponsoring events and the entire organization, creating a system of mutual economic assistance and cooperation within the group and among supporters. At the same time, the department itself can create economic resources by organizing small and medium-sized enterprises or by participating in the business of third parties.
Such autonomous groups play an extremely important role in mobilizing people to actively participate in color revolutions, since they have all the competencies - ideology, finances and armed force - to unite the unorganized crowd into a passionate mass, ready to build barricades and stand on them until they are fully implemented. The network nature of the organization of autonomous groups turns them into a well-protected and permanently operating within the state structure that can quickly manifest itself when the internal political conflict aggravates and just as quickly “dissolve” among civilian institutions, business structures and even in the public administration system.
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