The US is the foremost power when it comes to creating and applying “color revolutions”: America invented the know-how and has the best experts in this area, political scientist Mateusz Piskorski told RT.
RT: What are the key ingredients to start a color revolution?Mateusz Piskorsky: There has to be a real political and social crisis, which may be an inspiration for those groups who protest. There is no color revolution without a social basis. Common consciousness of a real economic or social problem is needed to easily manipulate the protesting groups.RT: So the problem has to be economic or social rather than a regime problem, like a dictatorship?MP: Yes, about 90 per cent of every society, including the societies of Central and Eastern Europe, are first and foremost interested in their social and economic interests. Which means they don’t care about politics, the political system or the character of a political regime. They’re just worried about their economic prospects and possibilities of keeping their families on a certain social level. This is the most important factor in every revolution.RT: What is the infrastructure behind a protest?MP: Really professional coordination centers… secret from ordinary protesters, but functioning very effectively.RT: What is the share of people power versus the power of the people who actually pull the strings?MP: Every protester has his own interests to participate in the protest, but it is really very easy for him to lose his rationality and become a subject of “emotional engineering”.RT: When people realize they have been subject to manipulation – what is their reaction?MP: Usually they do not realize they are subject to manipulation. It’s a question of the so-called information area or mass-media.One of the very important factors in any color revolution is the control of mass-media. First you take control over alternative mass media which has good reliability in the opinion polls. Then you think about a color revolution.One of the decisive parts of a color revolution project is the media.This is not a war between the regime and the people. It is a conflict between PR specialists of the government on one hand and the protest movement, or some foreign powers engaged on the other.RT: Talking about foreign powers – where does the funding come from for such [color revolution] projects?MP: This is the most interesting question, and also the most guarded secret… Certain foundations from some western countries, including the US, funded protests in Ukraine and Belarus.RT: Is the US always present in such conflicts?MP: I’m not sure about always, but it is in most of the conflicts. Another factor here – you have geopolitical interests.Every superpower like the US makes its decision: is it worth engaging, starting or igniting a color revolution or not? It is not only the US, but to be honest the US has the best experts in this area. The man who invented the whole technology is Gene Sharp [considered by many the world’s best expert on non-violent revolution, author of From Dictatorship to Democracy].The US is the leading power when it comes to this technology, I can say.RT: The US new ambassador in Russia Michael McFaul has admitted that America used to fund opposition movements and color revolutions but under a different administration, that it’s no longer done under the Obama administration. Do you believe that?MP: I believe that Mr. McFaul is one of the best specialists and scholars working on color revolutions, including in Ukraine. He’s an expert. I don’t believe the US is not using this technology.Sometimes a color revolution may not end on a peaceful note and may proceed to a civil war, the case with Syria and Libya.RT: How much can a project like installing a new regime in Ukraine in 2003 cost?MP: Most of them range from $20 million to $120 million.