VOA标准英语2011--‘Revolution School’ Teaches How to O

‘Revolution School’ Teaches How to Overthrow¹ a Dictator

Veterans of the uprising in Serbia, which overthrew² President Slobodan Milosevic, are running workshops for opposition³ groups around the world on how to bring down a dictator.
On the outskirts⁴ of new Belgrade - among Communist-era tower blocks - lies the anonymous-looking office the Centre for Applied⁵ Nonviolent Action and Strategies [CANVAS]. It teaches the science behind forced regime change.
Inside, Srja Popovic runs a School of Revolution.
“Our original idea was to help groups from Zimbabwe and Belarus in 2003 because they were inspired by the Serbian Revolution. It started as a hobby actually, it wasn’t a full time job. And then through time more request were coming, more groups were inspired, the curriculum became more serious,” said Popovic.
Popovic was a leader of the student group ‘Otpor.’ It played a key role in the 2000 revolt that ousted⁶ Milosevic. The tactics he learned at that time are now being taught to opposition groups around the world.
A film has been made of the struggle. Bringing Down a Dictator now forms part of the Canvas curriculum.
“Normally, Canvas workshops are seven days. First you need to understand that you need a vision of tomorrow, then you teach people the basic principles of success and non-violent struggle," said Popovic. "These are unity⁷, planning, and non-violent discipline, especially stressing the importance of staying non-violent.”
Opposition strategies and techniques
Canvas held workshops with Egyptian opposition groups in 2009, including the April 6 movement that played a key role in the overthrow of the Mubarak regime two years later.
Popovic admires the discipline the protesters showed in facing down the government.
“They would invite people to come on [Tahrir] Square from five different places and the police will go and secure these places. But in the meantime they will organize the communication so they will smuggle⁸ themselves through the labyrinth⁹ of streets and appear behind the military," said Popovic. "Another very important thing is they were so good at building up unity. They gave up their individual symbols of their own groups and came out only with the flag of Egypt.”
Since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, traffic to the Canvas website has soared - with tens of thousands of downloads of the organization’s free guide on staging protest.
Merchandise, workshops are popular
Canvas books have been translated into seven languages - the Farsi and Arabic versions are particularly popular. The clenched¹⁰ fist - the symbol of the Serbian protesters - has been adopted by protestors from Kenya to Belarus.
For Popovic, the workshops make for a hectic¹¹ schedule.
“We travel anywhere from Asia to South America, to the Pacific, Oceania," said Popovic. "We were working with places like West Papua, Fiji, so I mean it’s really exotic when it comes to the travel itinerary¹². But in practice you sometimes work in a hotel, sometimes you work in a classroom, sometimes you work on the beach - it was beaches with the Maldivians, so I mean it can be really thrilling.”
It’s a long way from the protests that filled Belgrade’s Revolution Square.
A decade on, the barricades¹³ have been replaced with pavement cafes; the protest chants with the tinkling¹⁴ of fountains.
Hard lessons to learn, teach
But not everyone believes that the Serbian model should be exported overseas.
Miljenko Dereta is director of the non-governmental organization called Civic¹⁵ Initiatives.
“It was not a revolution, first of all, it was a change of one personality. And very naively¹⁶, I may say romantically, we thought that changing one person changes the system," said Dereta. "The system is still present. And we’re still fighting for the change of the system.”
Popovic agreed that bringing down a dictator is just the start. “Removing the bad guy is sometimes easier than building the democratic institutions.”
It’s a lesson, Popovic said, that protesters across the Arab world will soon learn.

1 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

2 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

7 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

8 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

9 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

10 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 hectic   

adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的

参考例句：

• I spent a very hectic Sunday.我度过了一个忙乱的星期天。
• The two days we spent there were enjoyable but hectic.我们在那里度过的两天愉快但闹哄哄的。

12 itinerary   

n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划

参考例句：

• The two sides have agreed on the itinerary of the visit.双方商定了访问日程。
• The next place on our itinerary was Silistra.我们行程的下一站是锡利斯特拉。

13 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

14 tinkling   

n.丁当作响声

参考例句：

• I could hear bells tinkling in the distance. 我能听到远处叮当铃响。
• To talk to him was like listening to the tinkling of a worn-out musical-box. 跟他说话，犹如听一架老掉牙的八音盒子丁冬响。 来自英汉文学

15 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

16 naively   

adv. 天真地

参考例句：

• They naively assume things can only get better. 他们天真地以为情况只会变好。
• In short, Knox's proposal was ill conceived and naively made. 总而言之，诺克斯的建议考虑不周，显示幼稚。