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Towards the synthesis of the Western responses to the pro-western and pro-democratic protests in the post-Soviet states post-1991
ORCID: Paweł Kowal: 0000-0002-0513-6180
Afiliacja: Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN
Pages: 7-37
Edition: Lublin 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36874/RIESW.2025.2.1
Citation method: P. Kowal, Zachodnie reakcje na prozachodnie i prodemokratyczne protesty w państwach postsowieckich po 1991 roku – próba syntezy, „Rocznik Instytutu Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej” 23 (2025), z. 2, s. 7–37, DOI: https://doi.org/10.36874/RIESW.2025.2.1
Keywords: association agreement, Eastern Partnership, European Union, Georgia, NATO, protest, revolution, soft power, the third wave, Ukraine
Abstract:
This article summarises studies on post-soviet revolutions, partially based on the author’s previous research. Additionally, it attempts to synthesise the findings in this field of study. The author aims to establish the behavioural patterns of states and international organisations in response to pro-Western and pro-democratic protests in the post-Soviet world after 1991. The main conclusion is that the Western response to protest waves and resistance to the Russian attack was largely reactive in nature. Readiness to provide political support was a result of social pressures and was most often insufficient. Additionally, only in Ukraine and Georgia did post-Soviet protests boost the enlargement and political efforts of NATO and the EU. This analysis confirms the thesis regarding the weakness of the Western response. Moreover, it confirms the falseness of the Russian propaganda narrative that protests in the East were founded by the West as part of NATO and EU enlargement efforts.
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