A REVOLUTION IN THE THEORY OF REVOLUTIONS

The events of 1989 in the East-Central European belt of satellite comm unist regimes was a most fitting finale for the twentieth century, bou nd to be recorded in history as the age of revolutions. They changed t he political map of the globe, affecting even parts ostensibly distant from the scene of the upheaval in ways which are yet far from being g rasped in full. They are also certain to be scrutinized for the correc tions they offer to our orthodox views of how revolutions come about a nd how they are conducted. This brief paper is concerned only with the second issue. It considers the extent to which the collapse of the co mmunist regimes confirms or defies the extant theory of revolution. Gi ven the limitations of time and space, the paper aims at no more than sketching a few preliminary suggestions.