Georgia's Rose Revolution

November 22, 2003

Crowds carrying long-stemmed roses stormed the Tbilisi parliament during a session and Eduard Shevardnadze, a Soviet survivor who had once been Gorbachev's foreign minister, resigned within hours. Mikheil Saakashvili, a young American-trained lawyer, took over and yanked Georgia firmly westward. The post-Soviet space had its first color revolution; Moscow took notes and tightened the locks at home.