A Brief History of People Power

The Rose Revolution, Georgia, 2003
A parliamentary election in November 2003 was condemned by international observers for its irregularities, sparking massive pro-democracy demonstrations in Tbilisi against Eduard Shevardnadze, a former Soviet Foreign Minister who had served as President of the independent nation of Georgia for eight years. Within weeks, Shevardnadze relented and stepped down, paving the way for the election of the pro-Western Mikheil Saakashvili in 2004; in the years since, the controversial and, according to some, demagogic Saakashvili has attracted his own fair share of critics.

• Protesters in Tunisia Bring Down the Government