Janusz Bugajski, a former senior research analyst at Radio Free Europe in Munich, is associate director of East European studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Ukraine's opposition had been trying to oust President Leonid Kuchma's semi-authoritarian regime since its alleged involvement in the murder of journalist Georgi Gongadze in 2000. What brought success in 2004?
The “color revolutions” in the postcommunist countries cannot be attributed to diffusion alone. Structural factors offer a better explanation of why such revolutions have succeeded in some countries and not…