Course Name: Transition and Colored Revolutions in Ukraine and other Post Communist States
University: George Washington University
Department: International Affairs
Summary:
In October 2004 Ukraine held a presidential election which ended the “transition era” associated with Presidents Leonid Kravchuk (1991-1994) and Leonid Kuchma (1994-2004). The election was followed by an Orange Revolution that brought Viktor Yushchenko to power. The Orange Revolution was the third in a series of democratic revolutions in the post-Communist world, following Serbia (2000) and Georgia (2003). After Ukraine came Kyrgyzstan in 2005. The class will discuss all four democratic revolutions within a comparative context. Failed democratic revolutions, and the lack of prospects for revolutions, in Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will also be discussed in class.
The class investigates as a case study Ukraine’s post-communist transition and democratization during the Kravchuk and Kuchma era’s, its successes and failures. The seminar will cover issues such as democratization, market economy, state-institution building, regionalism and national integration. The class will also study the origins of the Orange Revolution and prospects for democratic consolidation and reform under Yushchenko.
