Vladimir Putin must have been watching the riots in Nepal closely — and not just because they were a violent instance of “people power” or, as Putin would say, a “colored revolution.”

Of far greater concern to Russia’s illegitimate president is the mechanics of the insurrection. Nepal looked stable, and few would have expected such an outburst.

In retrospect, we can point to a variety of systemic problems — or “contradictions,” as Putin, versed in Marxism and Leninism, might say — that seemed to spell trouble: “years of simmering frustration over corruption, nepotism and broken promises in Nepal's democratic system.” But what did spark the riots was the government’s social media ban, which outraged young Nepalese and pushed them over the edge.

Putin knows that Lenin’s newspaper was called Iskra or “Spark.” He also knows that sparks have played a critical role in many of Eastern Europe’s popular uprisings.

Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution was sparked by electoral shenanigans, as was the 2011 Russian Snow Revolution and the Belarusian mass demonstrations in 2020 to 2021. Ukraine’s 2013 to 2014........

© The Hill