 Mamaladze left the country soon after Shevardnadze's resignation in November 2003.Mikheil Saakashvili's government, which came in power after the 2003 Rose Revolution, took steps towards integrating the country's minorities by attempting to enhance the educational system (see "Education").The new government's efforts to build a professional army changed the military conscription practices and instead allowed many young Azeris and Armenians from impoverished regions (at least before the Russo-Georgian War of 2008) to be offered real employment opportunities by the Georgian army instead of being dragooned into mandatory military service.