Serbia’s 2000 Bulldozer Revolution, which culminated in the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević, in many ways set the standard for what we now refer to as the “color revolutions.” It is only fitting that, 26 years later, the country is once again experiencing revolutionary fervor during an election season. The current unrest in Serbia goes back to November 2024, when a canopy collapsed at the Novi Sad railway station, leading to sixteen deaths and sparking widespread calls for accountability. Over the next two years, a student-led movement known as Students in Blockade (Studenti u blokadi) has...

After Hosni Mubarak became president of Egypt in 1981, his government maintained a close relationship with the United States. Over the following decades, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would become increasingly involved in reforming Egypt's economy, including its agricultural and banking sectors. As soon as the 1980s, USAID funded an Agricultural Mechanization Project that helped finance the purchase of American farming equipment. As economist Timothy Mitchell later noted however, the program mostly benefited wealthier landowners who could afford the equipment, while...

Death, taxes, and politicians being a massive disappointment—the constants in life. I would add one more item to that list: Ron Paul being consistent. As Europe and Latin America faced revolutionary moments throughout the 2000s, it was Dr. Paul who remained a constant voice against U.S. intervention and engagement in foreign countries. With Slovakia seen as one of the first cases to feature tactics later associated with the “color revolutions,” as a member of Congress, Paul provided commentary on the methods used. He summarized, “In Slovakia, NED [National Endowment for Democracy] funded...

On September 17, Julian Assange’s return to Twitter/X did not go unnoticed. With more than fifty-one million impressions, it becomes clear his and WikiLeaks’ impact is undeniable. Still, his journalism and WikiLeaks have not come without scrutiny. Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin stated Assange should be “hunted down.” Current U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said regarding his work, “whoever in our government leaked that information is guilty of treason, and I think anything less than execution is too kind a penalty.” Meanwhile, former secretary of state and...

Located in Northeast Africa, Sudan receives relatively little attention in discussions of global geopolitics. This is despite the country being embroiled in a devastating civil war between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since 2023. With potentially over 150,000 deaths, and both sides accused of committing war crimes, the situation is bleak. The RSF notably has been accused of significant atrocities in Darfur, including mass killings and ethnic targeting during its capture of El Fasher. Amid the ongoing conflict, allegations of chemical-weapons use by Sudan’s military have...

When former CIA Director James Woolsey served as chairman of the board for the non-governmental organization (NGO) Freedom House for roughly two and a half years, it was during a particularly turbulent period in the post-Soviet space. Freedom House’s "Message from the Chairman" in 2003 outlines Woolsey’s direct quotes about what the organization's goals were. He described how they were working to “bring about democratic transitions within countries,” had “over a dozen field offices and programs in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, East-Central Europe, and Central Asia,” and were...

In 1990, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided “full funding” for one Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki for studies in civil engineering at Colorado State University. There was only one problem: the USAID document listed his birthplace as Sana'a, Yemen. Awlaki was actually born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, an inaccuracy which federal security agent Ray Fournier and The New York Times describe as being done in an attempt to qualify for scholarship money. Awlaki returned to the United States on October 23, 2000, just two weeks after the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen....