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12/1/2001 - Final Report to the Member and Trustees by Gregory Feifer

Afinal report deliveredat theICWAMembers Trustees meetingat Cosmos Club Washington DC December ByGregoryFeifer Dear guests Peter Martin ICWAtrustees Institute members friends familymthankyousomuchforcoming Justacouple ofweeksago Iwassitting inthebackofavanheadingalongbumpydesertroadsinUzbekistan Iwasin denial perhaps thattwoyearswere drawing toanend quickly I beheretodayattheend ofmyfellowship summingupmyexperiences And whatexperiences thosewere butofthatin aminute I startbysaying thatbackinMoscow I listena lottotheBBC certain I often happen turnonthe radiojust AlistairCookereads latest installmentofhis LetterfromAmerica It snotthat Iwas trying avoidmyfellow obligation submerge myself Russian culture butsomethingunpleasant happening intheRussianmedia I llelaborateaboutthatalso minute So I listening morning centlywhenCookesaid Youknow Ihadalot oftopicslin edupaboutwhichtospeak Here pricked I wanted Having spent almost years writing newsletters Iwas alwayskeento lineup Gregory Feiferspeaking topics Anyway Ihad topics lined Cosmos Club Washington Cookesaid Butsomehow afterSeptember December became irrelevant He launched intoadiscourseonanthraxscaresandmediahype But Icouldn thelp feeling thatsomehowanything thatI previouslywanted tosaywas irrel evant Andinaway itwas Which leads important thing I today Every thingonehearsaboutanICWAfellowship atleasteverything Iheard I heardquiteabit istrue WhatdoesthathavetodowithAlistairCooke If point during fellowship everything suddenly feels irrelevant feels obliged strike anewdirection takeup thingelse thenone isnotonlyfreetodoso oneiscompelledtodoso AnICWAfellowship sensecombines ofacademic andjournal istic writing opportunities On fellows devote space desire topic something almost impossible journalism today These I afraid articles increasingly dumbed downand generally reduced Onthe otherhand ICWAfellows topic topic That usually impossible under increasingly cialized rigors ofacademe In short ICWAfellows benefitfrom ofboth worlds Theyarenotconstrainedbyhavingto sellastoryormake itanything otherthantheywant Beingabletodothatfortwoyears isatremendous It aunique experience changes thewayone looks things andhowone writesaboutthem If Iwere toput itinonesentence I dsaythisICWAfellow become better important mention feels important culture which chose lasttwoyears ForthatI mvery gratefulandwillbe foreverindebted trusteeswhopickedmetobecom anICWAfellow andespeciallytoPeterMartin Peter asweallknow makes ICWA outstanding unique organization He travels world candidates apply fellow ships Hevisitsthem againduring fellowships Heed itsnewslettersandgives sortofguidancethathelpsthe fellowshipbecometheimportantexperience Thaton ofrtmning Institute itselfmit atremendous I alsograteful tothosewhointroducedmetoICWA thosewhogavemeencouragementandcriticismalongthe wayand tothosewhosufferedthroughmyoften convo luted writing Haveyoufollowedmeso As Isaidinoneofmynewsletters I firstappliedfora fellowship thinking I write about cultural currents shapingRussia smovementtowardtheWestfollowingthe Sovietcollapse Whateverthecountry smassiveproblems itseemed truly tobeundergoinga period thiswas begflmgof1998rainwhichsomeofitsfundamentaltraits changing I example For almost entire history Moscow ruled flung regions nistrative coercion After Soviet collapse Krem firsttimeputanend politicalpressureand began negotiate regions chiefly through fiscal means That throughtheflowoffederalbudgetmoney theprovinces andbackinthrough taxes toMoscow That seemed changes could havehelpednudge Russianjuggernautinanewdirec But little I great changes country coming It perhaps needless political control Thefirst officialdayofmyfellowship January coincided another firstday ofVladimir Putin presidency In short period between I plied write about Russia I actually began country underwent change That serious effectonmyfellowship Istillwroteaboutculturalcur rents ButI alsospentmuchmoretime simply tracking developments period which Russia wasindeed changing butina differentwaythan I dimag Ratherthanmovingtoward theWest Russiaseemed tobesteppingbackmawayfromtheWestand direc itsownpast Ina sense thiswasnatural Russianshadundergone decade humiliation They looking West andespeciallyAmericamformodelsofpolitics nomics technology Theywere tired ofoverwhelming western superiority Russian crumminess especially whentheythoughtthingsweresupposedtobegettingbet Theypined fortheglorydaysinwhichevenmention SovietUnionmade western governments shudder cower In spring NATO began bombingYugoslavia thoseanguishedfeelingsexplodedin western sentiment shook founda tions entire society Who forget firstmanintospace Theangerwaswellexpressedin paint stones hurled angry crowds roundingthe U S Embassy But biggestmoment ofwatershed about monthsearlierwiththeAugust1998economiccrisis Itwas apoliticalevent morethananeconomicone And itsim mediate result Boris Yeltsin almost single handedly appointed protected country laudedreformers onceagainfoundhimselfforthe firsttimeinadecade fightingforhispolitical It smore accuratetosaythat itwasactuallyhisentouragethatwas doingthe fighting Asifmattersweren tbadenough Yeltsin himselfhadbecome ahuman vegetable barely He often sight weeks Meanwhile influentialfewwhoformed clique intent thing regaining their political ascendance Itwaschieflyforthisreasonthattheso called reform abruptly ended To story short Yeltsin called Family ofinsiderscameupwithPutin their protecting themselves They would havebeenruined ifarivalweretohavebeenelectedpresi dentin About month I spoke those insiders Sergei 13orenko notorious television anchor crucialmedia smearcampaign against Kremlin rivalsin1999 Therewasnosuchgoalas Hey shave Putin hetoldme Ididn tevenknowwhatkindofper I Putin other person without question evildoer Without questionhewouldhavehad people arrested initiated repression The evildoer question powerful mayorofMoscow YuriLuzhkov whomostfelt atthetime wouldalmostcertainlysucceed Yeltsin presidency TheKremlinwasthinkingofwhereto Dorenko toldmeofthe state affairs inthesummerof1999 Actu therewasnoKremlin continued Therewasjust small group group enthusiasts And thinking ofhowtosave themselves Dorenko himself hardly blameless As Russia watchedtelevisionjournalist heusedhispositionon behalfoftheKremlintoissueastreamofvitriolandlibel Luzhkovandhis alliesduringthe 1999parliamentaryelec campaign Almost singlehandedly Dorenko lowered thelevelofRussianjournalism makingsure itwouldbe comea political labove Hewasinstrttmental bringing Putin topowerby appealing masses emotions He broadcast artfully edited clips putting Luzhkov former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov worst light At Primakov country popular politician But Dorenko series programs which silver bullets Kremlin opposition public GF ionratingswere inthe single digits NotthatLuzhkovand Primakov deserve praise theirowncampaign ticsortheirplans forRussia future It sjustthattheYeltsin cadres desperate toremainin Kremlin foughtdirtier Dorenko toldmea about patronand close friend thecontroversialtycoonBorisBerezovsky whowas Kremlin chief backroom power broken Whetheronebelieveshimornot DorenkosaidBerezovsky theonlyoneoftheinnercirclewhowasconfidentof victory He urged everyone rallying We llscrewthosebastards whichechoedi ntheKremlin boardrooms Ultimately Dorenko Berezovskywhowere chieflyresponsible forPutin Borisdealtwiththeelite hetoldme I theelector Itwasthatsimple During bitter election battle Putin oversaw beginningofabrutalnewwarinChechnya Itwasapopu together rhetoric liquidate called terrorists bandits madehisapprovalratings Anemergingcult ofpersonalitymeanwhileformed around future presi Everyone major politicians known torstoteenagers whowereherdedintoanewSovietesque youth organization jumped bandwagon To criti Putinmeantyouweren patriot Once office Putin quickly moved consolidate power In bringing order Russia Yeltsin anarchic chaos worked strengthen tralized authority He ofpowerful regional elites series ofchanges Constitution State prosecut meanwhile attacked called oligarchs handful ofhugely influential nessmen fortunes during Yeltsin privatization Putin cracked pressand civilsociety Dorenko incidentally wasbutone ofthe casualties firedfromtelevisionafterhavingcriticized Putin mishandling oftheKursknuclearsubmarine accident Berezovskyisnowinself imposedexileinFrance BerezovskykeptcallinghimVolodya Dorenkotold speakingofthefamiliarformofPutin sname Vladimir But realize Volodya anymore hewasapersonbehindwhomhungadouble headedeagle representingacenturies oldempire Twoyears later Putin repressivepoliticalactionswhathispresidencyhas beenallabout Inanutshell Behind torrent speculation about economic reforms newest flirtation Washington ofPutin realreformwas carried outby increasingthe bitrary powers hordes bureaucrats forcers They state infrastructure Once again punishment brought peopleintoline preciselybecauseitwasunclearwhatthe really Bribery corruption kinds vestige Soviet system central ofthenewPutinregime inacountryhevowed tomake Institute Current World Affairs powerful again But power deceptive Most Russians liveinincreasingpoverty Inone regionlastsum forexample hospital workers evenpaid andsomeofthemwereapparentlyhappytogetit The economy which receiving accolades growing while world sinks recession improved chieflydue tohigh prices deval uedruble thatcamewiththe 1998economic crisis These factors willsurelychangeandeventually forceanothercri It samazingtomehowquicklythe1998meltdownand lessons forgotten Especially since economyhasn essentiallyreformed Theregime after remains thesame Asin allprevi cycles Rus history system seeking stabil afteraperiod ofgreatflux It sreturningtoa traditional wayofdoingthings where decisions takenbyagroup ofpolitical61itesbehindcloseddoorsandrhetoric isused tosmokescreenanyonewhowouldpose threat includ ingtheWest itsannoying talkofhumanrightsand economic transparency Then September The tragedy changeRussia simage intheworld As inmany inother parts globe Russians shaken terrorist attacks World Trade Center Pentagon On incalculable layers physical emotional economicdamagethemassmurderswreaked itwasripples symbolic reverberated Moscow Reactions wentsofarastooverridemtemporarilyperhaps thenega attitudes Russians begun toward America Forthefewwhocould afford travel theper ceived nexus capitalist prosperity masses dreamed itmthe Twin Towers their stark siveness continued represent graphic common spaceRussianssharedwithothercitizens oftheworld That Russians recently forbidden travel abroad meantdistantpartswere allthemoretreasured Hence Russiansonthewholewere notimmuneto shockwavessetoffonSeptember Herewasnakedevil which stark depiction instantly aphilosophi calshift Inthecrudestterms iftheUnitedStatesinstantly Russia Nowhere clearly reflected thanin thewords actions ofPutinhimself By pledging intelligence cooperation giving consentforU S troops tobedeployedinUzbekistan Russia jealously guarded sphere influence Putin actedagainstthewillofalargenumberofpolitical elites Americans arewithyou saidimmediatelyafter attack praise abroad It insignifi Nixon China style That clear But U S began bombing Afghanistan Putin othermoves reflected evenmore deeply awide ingchange inhisuse rhetoric foreignpolicy tactics After Ukraine ludicrously denied shooting Russian airliner September Putin censure southern neighbor Earlier might event further assert Russia influence Ukraine More significant terms restraint Putin wouldn Georgia secession loose offormerSovietrepublics called theCommonwealth Independent States Georgia President Eduard Shevardnadzethreatenedthatactionaftertheonsetofhos tilitiesinthecountry sbreakawayregionofAbkhazia That conflictthreatens tosparktherenewal civilwarputon sevenyears TherealsituationinAbkhaziaremainsunclear Butthe significance Putin words cannot overemphasized At before September these issues could immediately begun diplomatic stand Instead Putin seemstohavelearned touserhetoric toRussia slong advantage rather engage short tactical mentsmeanttomakeupforRussia lostst inworld politics But Russia really grown Or simply ingtodoso Is itactinginawaythatmaysoonbringharsh disillusionmentandafurtherdeteriorationinrelationswith western states I recently spoke Russian official whosewords indicated tomethatwhatthe country ingtodaymightbenothingnew TheofficialpraisedPutin cooperation U S He glowed president magnanimousagreementtoallow civilian casualties U S attack onAfghanistan Putinwent further thanany otherEuropeanleaderinshowinghissolidaritywithWash ington officialsaid WhataboutTony Blair Iasked I received glowering silence reply followedby sermon Russiaknowswhatit sliketoliveunderthethreatofter rorism Iwastold AndAmericahasfinallyemergedfrom naivet6 tocome inevitably closer toMoscow position onthisand othermatters ofimportance Theofficial paternalistic statementswereupbeat about closeness between U S Russia tragedy struck peace lovingpeople The officialwas actually excitedbythe ceived magnanimity which Russia helping onetimerival Imustalsosaythateventhosewordsaped theKremlinline Theyseemedmeanttodisplaythe official loyalty regimewhenhe mighthave rather Yanks Hell In short Russia savoring America humiliation It alsoenjoyingthegloryofbeingneededby theWest ButI afraid thatoncelong standinglong interestsandfrictionsandfamiliarfeelings ofenvyandsus picion inevitablyemerge terribleshadow ofSep tember Russia again heading disappointment disillusionment followed initialeuphoria ofthe early 1990s whenRus sians alsosawthemselves asrespectednewpartners inthe globalcommunity September11has actuallyhelpeddistractRussiansand world country desperately needs itisinfacttobecomeaproductivememberofthe globalcommunity Russiareallyneedssocialreform Itmu rebuild decaying infrastructure reinforce institutions thatwouldsafeguard citizens rights Instead thestatecon finues legitimize those benefiting gangster style economicsandtheplunderofthe country srawmaterials For years Berezovsky Sibneft company example claimedtobemakingnoprofits whileeveryoneknew impenetrablenetworkofoffshorecompanieswerefunnel ingbillions abroad ButI twanttoend anote ofgloom I mhappy tosaythatduringthepasttwoyears oftremendouschange Russia I least benefited being research andwriteaboutwhatevercaughtmyfancy Ispoketoart television personalities I traveled Arctic wastes ofnorthernSiberia andtheformerSovietrepublics ofGeorgiaandUkraine Iwasabletowitnessfirsthandthe finaldays ofRussia onlyindependentnational television station NTV IwasalsoablesimplytoreportonMoscow moodswingsasshort lazysummersturnedintolong winters As I earlier I recently returned Uzbekistan where Iwentto observe changeswrought September Over hundreds years interaction tweenMuscovy sSlavsandthenomadicTurkicgroupswho inhabited thesteppessouthoftheirforestshas contributed asmuchas anythingelse tothe formationofRussiantrade patterns politics culture I found Uzbekistan Sovietregime increasinglyanddepressinglyauthoritarian isnowusingtheAmericanpresenceonits soiltoitsadvan tangled geopolitical plays Mos WhatIreallymeantosaywithallthis thatmyICWA experiencehasbeenanamazingone After years people Surely there something going Surely there ssome improve There tobesure althoughI malwayswaryof perception Russia inevitably moving indisputably betterwayofdoing things One thetopicsaboutwhich Iwroteduringmyfellowshipwas emergence middle class still growing stratum ThatgroupmayinthefuturehelpRussiaapproach fundamentalchange thekindthecountryneedstobe place opportunity equality freedom respect forhumanlifemandabove ruleoflaw Forthetimebeing I mremindedofaveryRussianway oflookingatthingsonethatholdsthatapessimistissome onewhosays things going getworse while worse Alas Russia history thepessimistshaveoftenbeenright AmIgrateful thatmytwoyears inMoscow comingwhenthey givenmeinsightintowhy Well I veyettofigure itout butbelieveme theambiguitytakesnothingawayfrommy gratitude forthe fellowship Thankyouverymuch GF