Wave of Resistance: the birth of a new International. A unique event!
19 April 2005
To watch the documentary click here NOVA
By: Arjen Berkvens; Director & Alma Balesic, project assistant Alfred Mozer Stichting
Introduction
After the “electoral revolutions” in Serbia (2000), Georgia (2003) and Ukraine (2004), the civic youth movements that were in the frontline of the successful democratic revolutions received full attention. Representatives of OTPOR! (Serbia), PORA! (Ukraine), KMARA (Georgia), Yox (Azerbaijan), Zubr (Belarus), and activists from various organisations from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Albania, Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation were therefore invited to The Netherlands to talk about their long and painful struggle, their successes and their failures. Wave of Resistance was an event where they met representatives of political parties, universities, NGO’s and political foundations. In workshops, private talks and after documentaries they debated their similarities, differences, allies and enemies, past, present and future. 300 people were present to share their experience and trigger them with arguments and questions.
Where activists learn, the regimes learn too!
Their struggle is still going on, under varying circumstances; sometimes under almost absolute dictatorship, sometimes in a more hybrid society where elements of liberal democracy and presidential authoritarianism go hand in hand. The fact that these circumstances differ so much makes it hard to generalise, but still some common elements are present in all countries. It seems that an “International Movement” of civic youth organizations has been created. Kmara in Georgia learned from OTPOR! in Serbia. ZUBR activists from Belarus and KMARA and OTPOR! veterans went to Ukraine to help out PORA! to spread their philosophy of non-violent resistance. The shadow-side is also visible. Where activists learn, the regimes learn too. They know what to expect and take measures to counter newly founded civic youth movements. They also take measures to stop international interference. International democracy support is a growing “industry” and receives more and more attention. The Alfred Mozer Foundation supported PORA! with training for instance. Freedom House supported OTPOR! and others. Critical questions are raised about this involvement. Is it morally right that democracy support is in the self-interest of the main western powers: the USA and the EU? Why do we support some and hesitate to support others? Is democracy more important than stability? Should the EU and the USA interfere in countries where The Russian Federation also has an interest? Do we harm these movements by paying too much attention to the international support, while in fact it is only a small contribution that can only have an effect in fertile soil?
The documentaries
The documentaries provided an intriguing insight in the movements in Serbia (Bringing down a Dictator by Steve York), Georgia, Serbia and Ukraine (The Anatomy of a Revolution by Alex Shprintsen), Ukraine (Pora!/ It’s time! By Arnold van Bruggen a.o.) and Belarus (Ne Tarmazi by Gerhard Stoel a.o.) Interesting was that the documentaries also showed the differences in approach by the filmmakers and the countries they came from. From The Anatomy of a Revolution, a sceptic Canadian Documentary criticizing the US involvement in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine, to a fast non-critical American promotion documentary: Bringing down a dictator showing the strategy and inspiration of Otpor! presented by Martin Sheen.
The Anatomy of a Revolution compared the strategies of the three movements. This led to a discussion about the supposed similarities between these movements and whether the revolution in Serbia was a blueprint for revolutions elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Pora!/It’s Time experienced its premiere at this event. The makers of the film went to Kiev during the demonstrations at Maidan, the main square in Kiev, and filmed the demonstrators, their activities, the tent camp and how they eventually won. This short film will be used as a campaign instruction movie for BKB Campaign Company. It clearly gives you an insight in the enormous creative capabilities of the young PORA activists.
Ne Tarmazi compared the three student associations in Belarus, Zubr, The Belarus Student Association (BSA) and the Belarusian Patriotic Youth Union that is loyal to Lukashenka. This documentary was probably the most impressive. It showed under which circumstances Zubr and BSA fight against the so-called Lukashism of the regime. It gave an impression of underground actions and the difficulties of fighting for democracy under circumstances where there is almost no freedom to manoeuvre. It also raised questions about the use of Belarus national symbols (red and white flag and language) as opposed to the Soviet symbols and the use of the Russian language by the regime.
In addition, two short documentaries were presented to our audience, which were made by Otpor! and Zubr about their respective movements.
The debate
The debate started at 20.00 hours and lasted till 22.30. It included three sessions. First was titled Success Stories, activists from Otpor!, Kmara and Pora! answered questions from the chairman Arjen Berkvens (Director AMS) and the audience. The second session, Inspired Movements, was led by our guests from Zubr, Yox and Yabloko.
Although these movements had and have to operate under different circumstances, the similarities were striking. All are non-hierarchical, use humour as their main weapon, are non-violent and are not connected to any political party (except in the very specific Russian case.) Gene Sharp is their Guru, although some admitted never to have read his books…The main similarity was actually on a more psychological level. All these movements had to overcome apathy and fear. Apathy because people did not belief anymore that they would be able to change the situation for the better. Changing this, recruiting volunteers and taking non-violent action to the streets was an enormous challenge. Overcoming fear was the most important thing. Being threatened by the regime meant being kicked out of university, being molested by the riot police, being arrested and accused of all kinds of offences. The reaction of the authorities therefore also shows many similarities. However, as one activist stated: “When the level of oppression grows, the level of resistance also increases.” The activists in Serbia ridiculed the authorities after they were branded as foreign agents and terrorists. Displaying a 22 year old slim student OTPOR activist in the streets as a terrorist, triggered the attention of the older generation and made them realise: “if our children are accused of being terrorists, what can we expect from these leaders?”
Although this generally might be true, the situation changes radically when the authorities choose to use brutal violence and repression. What if the police, secret service and the military remain loyal to the oppressive regime and do not hesitate to use every means possible? The case of Uzbekistan shows that Karimov did not hesitate to shoot hundreds of protesters and to label them as Islamic terrorists.
We have clearly seen that the regimes have also learned from the revolutions in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine. They know the concept, they know what to expect and react accordingly. Positively, perhaps, in the case of Moldova, negatively for certain in the case of Belarus. The complications even deepen when we take into account the role of the United States of America and The Russian Federation in countries like Uzbekistan where they have a common interest in keeping the countries stable and in their sphere of influence. Then suddenly freedom and democracy became of lesser importance than the global fight against terrorism. The representative of YOX stated the same about Azerbaijan. Although the Aliyev regime is repressive and clearly undemocratic, the main powers in the world seem to be driven by the goal of keeping the oil flowing and the country stable. Here, democracy is much less on the march, and although the murder of the journalist Elmar Huseinov shocked the international community, it did not have serious consequences for the regime. The YOX movement is now starting its activities for a democratic Azerbaijan; using leaflets and graffiti as its weapons.
In the debate with the audience a number of important additions were made. Someone noted that these movements are not the only ones fighting for democracy and that they are only a link in a chain of human rights groups, women groups, political parties, independent media etc. This statement was followed by the analysis that the main question is what will happen after the revolution. How sustainable are the changes? The case of Serbia shows that progress is very slow and sometimes in the pace of two steps forward, one-step back. What will happen with the new leaders of Ukraine and Georgia; will they repeat the faults of the past or will they be faithful to the cause of establishing true pluralist democracies in non-corrupt societies where the rule of law prevails, NGO’s and independent media thrives and administrations are transparent?
Questions were raised about the obvious support from especially the United States (private and governmental funds) to the civic youth movements. One person in the audience stated that taking money from the same country that invaded Iraq and is responsible for death squads, Guantanamo bay and sending possible Al-Qaida terrorists to be tortured in other “friendly though undemocratic” countries, cannot be reconciled. PORA activists Oleh replied as follows: “ In case a child is dying and the only thing that can safe it is the kidney of a serial killer: would the mother refuse the kidney out of principle?” This statement opened the eyes of some in the audience and raised the eyebrows of others, shouting in protest: “how can you compare the US with a serial killer…”
The importance of international support and the doubts that come with it were discussed during the whole day. Mr. Jonathan Steele of The Guardian en Mr. André Gerrits of the University of Amsterdam led the last discussion, which was titled the Revolution in Perspective. This part of the debate focused especially on international involvement in democracy promotion. André Gerrits posed four question regarding this phenomenon: - what is at stake when we speak about international democracy support?; - Do we have the right to interfere?; - Does it work? And what do we gain from it? According to Gerrits the popular revolts in Georgia and Ukraine have also shown a potential problem related to democracy promotion: it creates new troubles between Russia and the West. There is no doubt that for a series of specific reasons, we will face increasing tension between Russia and ‘Europe’ over the so-called Near Abroad. They have conflicting interests here. Gerrits stated however that increasing tensions could never be reason not to give support to democratic forces in the region. Not to support these forces because it might annoy the Kremlin is politically and morally repugnant. It reduces these republics to hostages of Russia. Europe should intensify the contacts with the former Soviet Republic. Europe should employ all the means available to assist these countries in their political and economic reforms. All means, according to Gerrits, with the exception of one: EU membership. International democracy promotion is partly altruistic and partly foreign policy self-interest. The idea is that it is advantageous to all: for a fist full of dollars democracy promotion strengthens the spread of democracy creates international stability and prosperity. Gerrits concluded: “I wouldn’t be too optimistic: democratization creates as much initial chaos and disorder as it may ultimately establish stability and peace.”
Jonathan Steele of the Guardian is well known for his critical stance on the different revolutions, especially the Orange revolution in Ukraine. He warned that the situation was and is not black and white. That we should be critical about the events and take into account that Ukrainians in the third round still voted for Yanukovich massively (over 40%.) This does indeed give him a strong democratic legitimacy. Steele also warned us that besides the probable altruistic motives the United States might have, we should not forget that their motives are also driven by self-interest, geo-political strategies and gaining power and influence. He reminded the audience of the recent example of Venezuela, where the democratically elected president Chavez was nearly toppled by a coup, according to Steele, staged by the US. He stated that the European Union should play a more active role.
Concluding remarks
Although everybody agrees that substantial support is given (estimates are that almost 2 billion euros is spend on all sorts of democracy support annually), the effects of it are strongly debated. Some like to play it down, some like to exaggerate the importance. Others stress the fact that money isn’t everything. Transfer of knowledge, training and facilitating the dissemination of information all play a major role. Besides that the human capital is crucial. Later that evening the Dutch news programme NOVA showed an item on the Wave of resistance with interviews and impressions. Their main argument was that these revolutions are instigated by the USA and strongly backed by US money. This is certainly a too simplistic way of looking at the events and does not take into account the influence the European Union and The Russian federation also have in the countries discussed. The Russians spend more than one billion dollar to back Yanukovich in Ukraine, outspending the USA and the EU by far. Still Yushchenko and his coalition won. We have to avoid simplistic schemes and overcome our ideological biases.
Our conclusion is that money isn’t everything. Without the power, bravery and sheer persistence of the people of these countries, nothing is possible. The credits for change therefore should go to the people of Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine and not to foreign powers.
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