Putting the Colour into Revolutions? The OSCE and Civil Society in the Post-Soviet Region

Abstract

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been a vocal critic of stalled and failing transitions to democracy in the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Since the Paris Summit in 1990, the organization has been working towards developing a system of norms and institutions to help encourage democratization and civil society ‘east of Vienna’, such as the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). Arguably, some of the most important events for the OSCE were the ‘coloured revolutions’ in Georgia in 2003, Ukraine in 2004, and Kyrgyzstan in 2005. The OSCE has performed an important role in fostering the conditions for these events, condemning the elections, and consolidating reform in the following period. Equally important, the ramifications of the ‘coloured revolutions’ pose the greatest threat to the viability and overall relevance of the organization.