Finding Purpose

History, Philosophy, Theology and Classic Wargaming

Color Revolutions Explained

Color Revolution and State Capture

16 September 2020

see all Color Revolution posts

[12 November 2020 update on Color Revolution and Fifth-generation Warfare (5GW)]

[31 July 2021 update Consolidation Phase of Our Color Revolution]

 

Color revolutions are much more than a catchy title applied to popular movements that share certain aspects of their nature. In every case, these revolutions occurred only because of support by organizations and entities external to the 'organic' movements on the ground. The United States has played a significant role, overtly and covertly, in every color revolution since the early 2000s ( a practice that was not out of step with many of our clandestine operations since WWII.)

 

Marisol Nostromo (link here) provides a fair treatment of much of what a color revolution is and why he believes the same methods we have used in foreign countries have been utilized in the US. (he attempts to name the nature of it and give 'they' a name, I believe it is more complex than such a simple explanation - but I suspect the parties he identifies are certainly part of the effort)

 

The term may have its origins in the works of Gene Sharp, who wrote some guidebooks on how to organize popular revolts using Madison Avenue-style marketing techniques. He recommended to the sponsors that rather than confusing or boring the participants with too much political theory, they should motivate their budding revolutionaries with pop culture, using catchy, content-free slogans, logos, and team colors.

 

Funding and support for color revolution activities in foreign nations always involve non-attribution, much of the funding and support is distributed through third-party non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and is often coordinated through USAID (a component of the State Department that works closely with both the DoD and the CIA).

 

Likewise, state capture is a real phenomenon, these operations have occurred in developing nations. There is a significant amount of academic work on the issue (search state capture on JSTOR). State capture can and has occurred, via private interests and through private and nation-state partnership (much like color revolutions).

 

State capture is "a type of systemic political corruption in which private interests significantly influence a state's decision-making processes to their own advantage". Generally, this occurs through pay-offs, blackmail, and subtle threats that usurp the ordinary functions of government for the benefit of private interests.

 

Combine the historical templates of state capture with demonstrated methodologies of color revolutions and add in the significant advances in interactive internet activities (IIA) then the argument that what is occurring right now is not just coincidence or an accident takes on much more weight.

 

Color Revolution Phases

Color Revolution

Strategic planners in the government love five-phase operations. Color revolutions and state capture is conducted in five phases (not a very creative lot). Visualize the chart above with an objective listed to the right (not depicted) and a concise mission statement filled with action verbs (also not depicted). We cannot know the objective or the mission statement, that would be conjecture. We can know the lines of effort and the various supporting efforts that always go into these sorts of operations.

 

Each long block on the diagram is a line of effort (LOE). LOEs build toward the next LOE, they can be sequential or contemporaneous. Some tactics are one-time things, others are 'rinse and repeat' as required.  In a nutshell, this is design methodology, and the chart represents a template design methodology for a color revolution. If you can visualize the flow, horizontally and vertically, building toward an objective, you understand enough about the methodology to read the chart.

 

Information operations are key to these efforts, propaganda to use a disfavored term. Technology now plays a key role in this, specifically interactive internet activities(IIA). IIA is non-attributed internet activities made to appear to be opposition or support. True IIA is much deeper than mere bots and fake accounts. The nasty stuff targets individuals by their digital profile, it knows who they are and what they think, and appeals to them through attractive personas. As data about us has proliferated building such a profile for exploitation is much easier.  Think of this as targeted marketing to your very soul; there is technology that can do that.

 

If you step back for a moment about what you personally think and believe about the virus, Trump, impeachment, the protests, riots, and everything else in 2020 - that is hard to do, but read the chart as objectively as possible - then you should begin to have questions. You can see how we arrived, perhaps a month or so ago, at a critical mass of separation and labeling. Friends no longer speaking, families mad at one another, community disintegrating in many ways.

 

This was accomplished via many methods, I will provide just a couple of examples.

 

Over information and changing narrative - 2020 has been a continuous news cycle. In December, I thought it bizarre that the impeachment was delayed for almost a month. If Trump was the dangerous criminal claimed, he should have been removed immediately. Instead, we moved it between "WWIII" and COVID. Since then, news has been constant. The newest dire threat warning continual. Stories have changed, the threat has changed, but the pace of the news cycle remained. This was key.

 

We have been called to action without sufficient facts and told that the official story is the only moral story. This builds division.

 

Events like the "White Coat Summit", where doctors come out, say things a large portion of the population wants to hear, millions see the video, and then it is banned. People then believe it all has to be true, "they' are suppressing it" many yell. A day or so later, 'they' expose one of the doctors as someone with heterological religious views. This makes those that supported the video publically look foolish. This is classic pride and ego up/down, an extreme form of gaslighting used in interrogations, here applied across society. It is designed to make one doubt their own conclusions and force them to trust the 'authority'.

 

The mailbox hoax is similar. Thousands retweeted and shared on social media images of mailboxes on trucks and warehouses filled with items that were proven to be old pictures. (this is perhaps not controlled disninfo but rather overeager supporters of a theory seeking proof). The USPS narrative itself, however,  is a deception. Told repeatedly it is building toward greater chaos. Many accept this story without any hard proof and only spurious claims.

 

We have this year a couple of examples of 'whistleblowers' releasing information, variously supporting the narratives of each extreme. Upon further inspection, these appear to be what is called a "limited hangout", official information released in such a way as to cover up a bigger story. Often, the whistleblower is defamed, therefore diminishing the limited information they released and everyone moves on thinking it was all a hoax.

 

We have been provided labels to easily identify which side of the created separation we stand-upon. Mask wears versus skeptics, BLM versus law an order types, etc. We have readily complied with this self-labeling. There are too many videos to count of ordinary citizens ready to fight one another over masks. We did this, we gladly put on uniforms of the various false divisions.

 

Apathy or Doubling Down

We have clearly, in my observation, entered phase four. Some of us, just a few, have solidified on the poles. Most of us have lost the friends we were going to lose through self-identification. Many are now sad, frustrated, some hopeless, and most just tired of all of this. Most just want nothing more to do with it. We are apathetic. This is exactly where we are supposed to be right now, according to the template.

 

Most of the riots have settled down, minus the diehards in the Pacific Northwest (only to be turned on and off again surrounding events where the full truth is never revealed). Most Americans are tired of seeing all of that and pay no attention. In most places, we are getting back to something approaching quasi-normal in terms of the virus. In terms of the template, this is also predictable. Too much lawlessness, too much fear can push people in unpredictable and uncontrollable directions. Ordinary Americans would have to be apathetic in this phase, not taking to the streets. And, in the template, if apathy begins to wane into skepticism, turning back on some of the previous elements of crisis and chaos is always an option.

 

Summary

That is the 50,000-foot view of the methodology with just some examples of how it has been and is being applied here. You have to step back, divorce yourself from favorite theories. This cannot be just Russia, read my article on that. This has to be something from within, and it probably has to cross traditional party lines. I did not, and will not, mention how I became convinced this is not theoretical. I know only that I was certain before this week and wanted it not to be so. If you apply the template and look at the world as it is, you will also see that 'dark matter' has to be out there without additional 'proof'.

 

See all Color Revolution posts

@onlyBarryLClark

One thought on “Color Revolutions Explained

  1. This page is far and above the most visited on my site. I want to say if you came here to view this old piece referencing something my friends and I were certain we observed that there is more. It was not just about politics, nor the political divide. Some of these techniques were used on Bernie Sanders. It was about more than personalities (some of the apparent ‘targets’ seem to have been onboard)

    Color revolution techniques were used in the US in 2020 and 2021, but it was just a methodology, a tool, it was a thing but not ‘the thing”. (https://barryclark.info/color-revolution-was-just-a-methodology/)

    It has been easy to detect groups that purport to hold ideologies on the right and left that played a role. (https://barryclark.info/the-wicked-web/)

    In the big picture, it is far removed from ideology or political worldview. Those are merely used to move the masses. Those that have, are, and will benefit from this are corporatists and the money trust. These have merely used various impassioned groups, manipulated public opinion, and expanded their power and wealth through all of this. (https://barryclark.info/the-ole-statue-of-liberty-play/)

    It is bigger than your (or my) political ideology. It is beyond what most perceive as right versus left. The methodologies were used, MAGA, Q, BLM, AnTifa and others look very inorganic and all controlled to varying degrees -these played a role in what happened in 2020/21. The current housing bubble is not organic – much of it is being driven by corporations investing at full price (or over full price) in real property.

    The Color Revolution methodology was just a tool to control and quell right populism, left populism was easier to control, quell, buy off or turn toward the purposes of those that will ultimately benefit. Make no mistake, if you are a regular person, of any political leaning, this was an act against you. You will see it now or later, it will hurt you – that is a fact I would bet on.

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