Wednesday, November 30, 2005

No need to fear the color orange - Yahoo! News

No need to fear the color orange - Yahoo! News: "A year old, Ukraine's 'orange revolution' is receiving strong push back - from outside the country. Autocratic governments from China to Uzbekistan, fearful of the spread of street protests, have cracked down on the type of nonprofit, activist groups that played a key role in Ukraine's about-face to democracy.
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Of course, it was the Ukrainians' desire for freedom that overturned last year's fraudulent presidential election. But they were greatly helped by foreign-funded nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which put them through democracy basic training, teaching them how to monitor elections and organize opposition.
The explosive growth of NGOs since the end of the cold war - and their role in democratic revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan - threatens certain governments. Now Russia, which has grown alarmingly authoritarian under President Vladimir Putin, is considering disturbing changes that would make it virtually impossible for foreign-funded NGOs to operate there."