Protest

We appear to be going through a period considerable social unrest, with the turmoil in Syria, protests in Russia and the seemingly endless rioting in Greece. And that's just last week. It is perhaps inaccurate to treat all these phenomena as the same, as they are each dealing with very different issues.
For example, the Syrians are protesting against a government they didn't elect, whereas the Russians are protesting against a government they did elect, just not so many of them as was reported. And of course, the Greeks are protesting against a government they, erm, didn't elect.
But the Syrians are protesting against a wealthy elite who enjoy the protection of the government whilst the majority suffer, and the Russians are protesting against a wealthy elite who are the government and enjoy plundering state resources at the expense of the majority. Whereas the Greeks are protesting about a state that allowed a wealthy elite avoid taxes at the expense of the majority. Which is completely different obviously.
There is a tendency in the west to view protests as more legitimate if they occur outside Europe or the USA. This is because traditionally the people in western countries have been able to turn to the ballot box to register their dissent, and therefore don't need to take direct action. Now that democracy has effectively been suspended in certain European countries, should their popular protests be viewed as the only legitimate voice of their people?