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posted by zaina19 on April, 2007 as ANALYSIS / OPINION
From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 4/20/2007 3:56 AM THE POPULIST REPUBLIC Thursday, April 19, 2007 WASHINGTON-I am fascinated by the similarities between Russia and Latin America. The latest wave of repression against critics of President Vladimir Putin in Russia and the victory obtained by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in last Sunday's referendum, which provides a green light toward setting up a constituent assembly that will give him authoritarian powers, remind us that despotic populism is alive and kicking. Last month I co-chaired a seminar at Harvard University's Davis Center with Russian scholar Tatiana Vorozheykina, an expert on comparative Russian/Latin American studies. Her view of Latin America is more optimistic than mine. For her, Russia is less free because it lacks the kind of civil society that many Latin American nations enjoy, facilitating Putin's pervasive control. Last weekend's detentions in Moscow and St. Petersburg of members of the Other Russia, an opposition organization that includes former chess champion Garry Kasparov as one of its leaders, are a reminder that Russia ... >> full
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South Caucasus: Is Russia Losing Influence?
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posted by zaina19 on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
rom: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 4/20/2007 2:01 PM Thursday, April 19, 2007 South Caucasus: Is Russia Losing Influence? South Caucasus -- regional map (RFE/RL) April 19, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Moscow's influence in the South Caucasus region has been steadily waning in recent years. In a recent commentary in "The Moscow Times," Thomas de Waal, the Caucasus editor at the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting, argued that the Kremlin -- preoccupied with Russia's resurgence as a world power -- is losing its grip on Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. RFE/RL's Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian services invited de Waal to participate in a roundtable discussion on the issue as part of their regular "Caucasus Crossroads" series. Also participating in the discussion were Ivliane Khaindrava, a lawmaker from Georgia's opposition Republican Party; Rauf Mirkadyrov, a columnist for Azerbaijan's "Zerkalo" newspaper; and Stepan Grigorian, the director of the Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The discussion was moderated by RFE/RL's Andrei Babitsky. RFE/RL: To start, let's have Thomas de Waal ... >> full
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50% Good News Is the Bad News in Russian Radio
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posted by zaina19 on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 4/23/2007 12:14 AM 50% Good News Is the Bad News in Russian Radio Justin Jin for The New York Times Journalists at the irreverent Echo of Moscow, the only independent radio news outlet with a national reach. By ANDREW E. KRAMER Published: April 22, 2007 MOSCOW, April 21 — At their first meeting with journalists since taking over Russia’s largest independent radio news network, the managers had startling news of their own: from now on, they said, at least 50 percent of the reports about Russia must be “positive.” In addition, opposition leaders could not be mentioned on the air and the United States was to be portrayed as an enemy, journalists employed by the network, Russian News Service, say they were told by the new managers, who are allies of the Kremlin. How would they know what constituted positive news? “When we talk of death, violence or poverty, for example, this is not positive,” said one editor at the station who did not want to be identified ... >> full
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Warsaw-Moscow: relation in its lowest level
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posted by zaina19 on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 4/23/2007 12:19 AM Warsaw-Moscow: relation in its lowest level Publication time: Today at 08:18 Djokhar time An "ice period" is beginning in Poland's relation with Russia, a senior Polish official said Sunday after EU and Russian representatives failed to agree a deal on ending a ban on Polish meat imports. Russia imposed an embargo on Polish meat in November 2005 claiming that meat from third countries was being imported under the cover of Polish produce, which failed to meet health standards. The issue of lifting the Russian embargo on Polish meat imports topped the agenda of the talks between EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou and Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev that started in the Cypriot resort city of Limassol . The talks yielded no results. Commenting on the reports about the failed EU-Russia negotiations, Deputy Prime Minister of Poland Roman Giertych said this was a bad signal. "This means that Russia firmly stands on its position, which contradicts the Russia-EU accord. This means that we are already ... >> full
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Authoritarians Or Populists?
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posted by zaina19 on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 4/23/2007 1:53 AM Friday, April 20, 2007 Authoritarians Or Populists? By Alvaro Vargas Llosa I am fascinated by the similarities between Russia and Latin America. The latest wave of repression against critics of President Vladimir Putin and the victory obtained by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in last Sunday’s referendum, which provides a green light toward setting up a constituent assembly that will give him authoritarian powers, remind us that despotic populism is alive and kicking. Last weekend’s detentions in Moscow and St. Petersburg of members of opposition organization The Other Russia are a reminder that Russia is a ruthless autocracy. With the exception of Venezuela, the authoritarian institutions in Latin America are not as bad as Russia’s. Power is more decentralized as governments have not been able to wrest back economic influence from the private interests that surfaced during the reforms of the 1990s. Mexico was also dominated by a party-state for much of the 20th century and underwent a process of reform in the ... >> full
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