Armenia’s Velvet Revolution

In a time when democracies are in decline and authoritarian populism spreads its illiberal shadow from Erdogan’s Turkey to Modi’s India to Trump’s America, a light from Armenia pierces the growing political darkness. Begun as a march on the capital and legitimized in free and fair elections, a non-violent, democratic, civilly disobedient movement took power in Yerevan and carried out a determined cleansing of an arrogant and corrupt power structure. While the evident decay of democracy across the globe speaks to the fragility of liberalism, this excellent volume demonstrates that authoritarian regimes have deep-seated weaknesses that can undermine the dominion of venal elites and unleash aspiring democratic forces. The post-Soviet Armenian state, alone in a dangerous neighborhood, at war with one neighbor and threatened by another, substituted security for freedom. Yet a courageous and resistant civil society never fully succumbed to the usurpation of the promise of progress. As the authors within and outside Armenia eloquently elaborate in this collection, non-violent resistance can lead effectively toward a democratic outcome * Ronald Grigor Suny, WILLIAM H. SEWELL JR. DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR OF HISTORY *
This is the definitive history of Armenia’s Velvet Revolution. The volume provides context, analysis, and nuance regarding Armenia’s impressive show of people power in 2018, and prospects for longer-term transformation. Kudos to the editors and authors of this masterful collection. * Erica Chenoweth, Harvard University, USA *