Alexander Olegovich Naumov

Despite the substantial number of studies devoted to color revolutions, there is no common approach to understanding this geopolitical phenomenon in the modern scientific discourse. Interpretations of the essence of color revolutions can di er dramatically: from a spontaneous uprising of the masses to the use of special technology by the United States to overthrow political regimes. For the first time in Russian historiography this article presents a systematic analysis of various theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of color revolutions. The key issue is the ratio of endogenous and exogenous factors that led to the color revolutions. The scientific works of leading domestic and foreign experts on this problem are considered. The authors come to the conclusion that applied research of color revolutions in the works of both foreign and domestic scientists is carried out from different positions. Discourse about the endogenous origins of color revolutions prevails in the Western scientific world, while many Russian researchers consider external in uences to be their primary cause. According to the author’s concept, it was external factors that played a key role in the origin of the color revolutions, because it was the technologies of the so power of the United States and its allies that became the key reasons and, at the same time, tools for carrying out these operations to dismantle political regimes in the beginning of the XXI century.

The article examines the evolution of the domestic system of soft power and public diplomacy. The activity of the institutions created in the years of existence of the USSR and the structures that appeared in the new Russia is considered. It is argued that the Soviet Union had a developed system of external cultural relations. After the actual inaction associated with the collapse of the country and the difficult socio-economic situation, the issue of soft power came to the attention of the authorities only in the second half of the 2000s. The institutional structure of the soft power of the Russian Federation of the Russian Federation and its development prospects are analyzed.

The article analyzes the current state of foreign historiography of the color revolutions that took place in 2000–2014 in Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet space. The main concepts and approaches of leading American and European specialists are considered, problematic positions in the study of the phenomenon of color revolutions and ways to solve them are indicated. The main emphasis is placed on the study of the historiography of the color revolutions in each of the countries in which regime change during this periodtook place. The author comes to the conclusion that there are still many scientific gaps in the framework of the foreign discourse on color revolutions. This is especially true of the problem of country studies, since many issues related to the regime changein Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan still remain unsolved.

The article analyzes the evolution of the soft power concept that was developed at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries by the American political scientist J. S. Nye Jr. The authors consider the transformation of the soft power concept in accordance with global shifts in the system of international relations, changes in the balance of forces between the main actors and the rapid development of digital technologies. The analysis of soft power and smart power concept as well as their relationship with various manifestations of hard power is provided. Furthermore, possibilities of using hard power instruments in order to generate an effect comparable to the one of soft power are regarded. The authors separately consider the concept of legitimacy in the successful application of soft power technologies as well as the possibilities of manipulative application of strategies aimed at forming attractive images through propaganda. The authors place special emphasis on the fact that the policy of D. Trump forced by J. Nye to adjust his concept of the main soft power resources and to strengthen the role of the public as the main carrier of norms and values attractive to other countries in times of crisis. At the same time, the main practical purpose of the concept of J. Nye is still to preserve the role of the global hegemon for the United States of America.

The article is devoted to the study of Russia’s policy towards the Rose revolution, which took place in November 2003 in Georgia. It became the first color revolution in the post-Soviet space, during which a complex of technologies for changing political regimes, tested in Serbia three years earlier, again demonstrated its eff ectiveness. Despite the fact that many aspects of this color revolution have received decent coverage in the scientifi c literature to date, the position and policy of the Russian state in relation to this coup d’etat still remain virtually unexplored. The article provides an overview of Russian-Georgian relations in the post-Soviet period, analyzes the reaction of the Russian authorities to the parliamentary elections held on November 2, 2003 in Georgia, evaluates and systematizes the statements and concrete steps of Russian politicians and diplomats during the implementation of the Rose revolution. The authors used documents from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, many of which are being introduced into scientifi c circulation for the fi rst time, electronic resources of Russian state authorities, materials from leading Russian and foreign media. It is concluded that in order to preserve political stability in Georgia, Moscow took a neutral position and even contributed to the settlement of the internal crisis in the country, but as a result of the color revolution anti-Russian forces came to power in Tbilisi, whose policy subsequently led to a signifi cant deterioration of Russian-Georgian relations and to an aggravation of the situation in the South Caucasus region as a whole.