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Mechanisms of political regimes changing with the participation of international non-governmental organizations (INGOS) in Eastern Europe and Northern Africa: similarities and differences
For centuries, states have been the main actors, which shaped the political processes at the international level. However, such researchers as J. Nye and R. Keohane in the early 1970s already discovered the network effect of the influence of non-state actors on the world politics. The foreign and Russian academic communities recognize that international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) actively participate in modern international relations. Moreover, their activities become more significant when political regimes were changing. This article aims to analyze the activities of INGOs before, during and after the change of authoritarian political regimes in Eastern Europe (Serbia) and in North Africa (Tunisia and Egypt). It describes examples of modern technologies’ usage that facilitate the change of the political regime, including the methods of nonviolent struggle. Serbian movement “Otpor!” used it in 1996–2000, the Egyptian “April 6 Youth Movement” used it in 2008–2014 and the Tunisian movement “Ben Ali Yezzi Fock” in 2011 also used the methods of nonviolent struggle. The most common mechanisms of INGOs influence on political transition were the INGO’s participation in organization of the electoral process (the conduct of presidential and parliamentary elections), organization of election campaigns, seminars, consultations for civil society, which can be called an instrument to grow new potential leaders. During the changes of political authorities in Serbia, Tunisia and Egypt, INGOs produced short films, printed handbooks with propaganda for democratic foundations. Great attention in this article is paid to the socio-economic situation in these countries after the mass unrest. The author shows how the external forces behind foreign NGOs contributed to the political transition, and relates to the ambiguous results for population it has brought.