CC BY
9
MODERN RUSSIA: IDEOLOGY, POLITICS, CULTURE AND RELIGION
2017.04.001. SAIDA SIRAZHUDINOVA. CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: PROTEST POLICY AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN MODERN WORLD // "Information Wars," Korolyov, 2016, No 4(40), P. 37-42.
Keywords: civil society, protest, protest policy, policy from the bottom, color revolution.
Saida Sirazhudinova,
PhD (Politics)
South Russian Institute of Management at Russian Academy of People's Economy attached to the President of the Russian Federation
The author examines the activity of civil society in the context of protest policy. In recent years certain sections of civil society have been used ever more often as a force stepping up protest activity. This circumstance has resulted in a greater activity of civil society in the political sphere and made it an instrument to overthrow political regimes. The wave of protest actions in the post-Soviet territory, which take the form of opposition activity and revolutionary processes is distinguished by similar scenarios and protest groups.
Protest policy is one of the threats to stability in the postSoviet area. A chain of protests and revolutions, which gripped the post-Soviet (initially, post-Communist) countries, has become
a link of the global revolutions with their anti-Soviet (and anti-Russian) slogans. The "Velvet" Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989 laid the foundation to the transformation processes of regimes from communist and socialist to democratic and liberal. Protests have also resulted in the victory of the "Solidarity" in Poland. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union protest policy has become stronger. The emergence of the Russian Federation was preceded by organized protest campaigns. Beginning from 2003, the coup in Georgia opened the period of "color" revolutions which broke out from time to time in the post-Soviet area (tulip, orange, rose...). These soft revolutions often led to the destruction of a state. Beginning from the disintegration of the U.S.S.R. the tendency to break-up continues. Successes of many revolutions have not been complete and resulted in a loss of part of the country's territory. The Georgian revolution led to the loss of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Ukrainian Euro-Maidan in 2014 was followed by the loss of the Crimea, the aggravation of the situation in Donbass, and the emergence of Novorossia. Protest policy came to Russia too in 2011-2012 and 2015. Protest actions with "color" names took place in Armenia, Belarus and Azerbaijan. Among the causes of protests were struggle for democracy, fight against vote rigging, outrage provoked by actions of the political regime, or separate actions of the powers that be.
In the author's view, it is necessary to determine the essence of protest policy and ascertain the role of civil society in it. The author defines protest policy as a set of concepts based on the theory, technology and practice of protest social mobilization aimed at creating the atmosphere of conflict in a state and society, and change of the regime or power. Protest policy includes a concept of debatable policy, a concept of civil society or protest activity / policy "from the bottom", "color" revolutions, and the concept of collective actions and social movements.
The concepts of protest policy and their realization are connected with the activity of civil society, which is the subject,
and the government (power, regime) is the object, and protest activity acquires a political trend. Consequently, it can be termed "protest policy" and, being adversary and disputable, it remains policy as such. Here the subject of civil society is its structures from individual groups and local organizations to international non-governmental organizations. Religious and ethnic activists and organizations are also used. International and local nongovernmental organizations, media-resources (the Internet, mass media, social networks, etc.) play an important role in the escalation of protest policy. Their activity increases, especially it is seen in the countries of the post-Soviet area. The information and network technologies have increased the scope and results of protest actions, which engulf greater areas. This shows the growing politicization of civil society and its turning into an instrument of geopolitics.
The protest events in the world force us to turn to the concept of "contentious politics." It is a trend of modern sociology and comparative political studies examining protests, civil mobilizations, social movements and collective actions from conflicts (ethnic, political and religious) to opposite actions, revolutions and civil wars. The emergence of the concept is connected with the collective action, growing organizations and movements expressing various interests opposing the state.
Usually, protests and claims are aimed at making political changes. The activity of civil society acquires a political tint here. This is why the term "protest policy" is used as contentiousness and argument of the opposing sides striving for victory, where one of the sides is power. Definition of contentious policy includes argument (statements, programs), collective actions (media-campaigns, protests, strikes, marches from peaceful to forcible), and interaction with power. International media and non-governmental networks help distribute protests, guerilla fight and terrorism. Guerilla wars widely use modern communications (mobile phones, the Internet, YouTube, cameras, the mass media) and arms for attacks in the urban conditions.
One of the specific features of contentious politics is that all its forms pursue hidden political aims, declaring the need for social and cultural changes, except civil wars.
In the studies of the activity of civil society recently, one can come across ever more often the term "Politics from below," which leads to changing political regimes as a result of the protest activity "from below." It is usually connected with the development of democracy, and this is why the words "politics from below" are preceded by the specifying word "color." Street protests demand answerability, promotion and broadening of democracy (Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania). At the same time a change of the political regime is not necessarily a step toward democracy. Under democratic slogans, populist, conservative, nationalist, ultra-right and racist movements may act.
Religious movements have also begun to play a more active role. In post-communist countries after the collapse of their previous regimes religious activity has grown markedly, which has influenced in some cases the political process, having given rise to religious and social activity (for instance, in Poland). At present in Russia (and not only here) Salaphite protest movements of non-traditional Islam are widely used for "guerilla" fight against social injustice, drawing international groups of civil society, their sponsors and the mass media.
"Color" revolutions (like "velvet" revolutions) became the most radical manifestation of protest policy. They spread in many countries, and their activity was especially registered in the post-communist and post-Soviet area. The "color" revolution is the widespread practice of changing power (regime) through the stepped-up activity of various groups of civil society (activists, movements and organizations). A common scenario, methods and the active role of non-governmental organizations in such revolutions make one believe that these revolutions have been thoroughly prepared and well connected with the promotion of democracy and human rights, as well as with the staging of protests against election results. The United States actively
promotes democracy in foreign countries by developing these non-governmental organizations. In Georgia, for example, the leaders of civil society taking part in the "rose revolution" received sponsor's aid from the United States (via NED, USAID, the Soros Foundation, etc.). Expert communities and networks were set up in Georgia, and as a result, victory was achieved by a non-revolutionary way. A similar scheme was used for staging "color" revolutions in Ukraine, Serbia and other countries.
Author of the abstract - Valentina Schensnovich
DMITRY YEFREMENKO. BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON. MIDDLE EASTERN ORDER IN A STATE OF HALF-DECAY //
Russia in Global Affairs, 2017, No 3 // English version of the article was submitted by the author for the bulletin "Russia and the Moslem World."
Keywords: Middle East Collisions, Middle East, USA, Iraq history, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Islamic State, ISIS, geopolitics, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Trump, Bush, territorial integrity, Erdogan, Russia's foreign policy.
Dmitry Yefremenko
PhD (Political Science), Deputy Director,
the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences, RAS
More than a century has passed since Britain, France, and Russia arbitrarily divided the vast territories of the Ottoman Empire into areas of their own post-war dominance. The Sykes-Picot Agreement started the process of partitioning the Middle East into countries that cut through regions historically populated by Arabs and Turks, Kurds and Assyrians, Sunnis and Shiites, Christians and Jews, etc. Subsequently, the borders of
