Revolutions and the International: The Negotiated Character of the 'Velvet Revolution' in Armenia 2018

Abstract: In a global system of increasing instability and civil society protest movements, it is important for IR to pay attention to revolutions. In the past, Marxist-structuralist theories have contributed to the research on revolutions and the international but are insufficient to explain recent cases and a contemporary generation of scholars has provided more multivariate and processual theories about revolutions.Within this field, this thesis concerns the theory development about revolutions and their international dimension. The guiding argument guiding is that revolutions are international events which are being shaped by and shaping the international system. Using the concept of “negotiated revolutions” by George Lawson, the Armenian “Velvet Revolution” 2018 is analysed as a comparative case-study to describe its international aspects. By applying the theory to a new case, it can be explored whether it still holds in another context beyond the cases with that Lawson established it.The analysis uses qualitative data from multiple sources, employing an intersociety approach and incorporating different contemporary explanations into the analysis of the case and its characteristics. It is concluded that the concept negotiated revolution is well suited to explain the dynamics of the Armenian Revolution in relation to the international system.