Fledgling Democracies

So said Stanislau Shushkevich, former chairman of the Belarusian Parliament, at today’s opening of the Center for Belarusian Studies, at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.

The Wichita Eagle didn’t offer any elaboration on Shushkevich’s hopes for his country to more closely resemble the sunflower state, but did provide these tidbits:

• They (Belarus and Kansas) are about the same size and feature relatively flat topography.
• Each is landlocked, with residents known for a strong work ethic.
• Belarus has more than 9 million residents — about triple the population of Kansas — and an estimated 11,000 lakes, carved out by glaciers.

Shushkevich, with Boris Yeltsin and Ukraine’s Leonid Kravchuk, declared the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. He was joined at the opening by David Swartz, former US ambassador to Belarus and Southwestern U alum, who said conditions in Belarus have gone from “bad to worse” while other former Soviet republics are making forward progress. The new center’s goal is to “promote the revival of the Belarus nation through higher education.”

To that end, may they reach “ad astra per aspera,” or “to the stars through difficulties,” just like it’s done in Kansas.

This 3,800+ word microfinance story focuses primarily on Mongolia, not a country this blog is primarily concerned with but a place where microfinance is experiencing what the piece calls ‘growing pains.’

The writer mentions early NGO microfinance initiatives such as the Golden Fund for Development, a UN program started in 1998, and offers up some relevant stats on microfinance for Eastern Europe and Central Asia: the total number of borrowers served has grown from 1.5 million in 2000 to 5.1 million in 2006, with the total loan portfolio of all MFIs reaching $12.5 billion.

The 11th annual Microfinance Centre Conference will be held in Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia, May 20-30, and is expected to address competition and attempt to make some sense of the complicated landscape now inhabited by private investors who came on the scene as the market expanded. 

A Russian NGO calling itself the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation, which aims to challenge Western views of Russia, has published a book theorizing that the events leading up to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, as well as the toppling of Slobodan Milosovec in Serbia and Georgia’s Mikhail Saakashvili’s rise to power all were masterminded by forces in Western countries.

The analysts who make the case point, in particular, to the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, a group the authors say used American funds to resist Viktor Yanukovich, the pro-Russian candidate. Nonsense, says spokesman Aleksandr Chernenko: “The money we received from Western donors was allocated specifically for monitoring the election. After that we haven’t got a penny from anyone.”

Regardless of the credence (or lack thereof) of the allegations the book makes, it’s premise does put the spotlight on just what rights and responsibilites foreign NGOs have when their motives go beyond providing humanitarian aid, and also seek to affect a nation’s politics. Its precisely the concern behind Russia’s decision to closely monitor all foreign NGO activity.

The Discovery Institute’s Russia Blog has a great piece re: the above-referenced Institute for Democracy and Cooperation.

Marina Rikhvanova, of Irkutsk, Siberia was one of seven grassroots environmental activists honored with the $150K prize in San Francisco Wednesday.

The Goldman Prize strives to recognize “individuals for sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment, often at great personal risk.” Rikhvanova certainly fits the bill: she’s spent years leaning on Vladimir Putin to stop the planned expansion of state-owned gas pipelines that would threaten wildlife at Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest lake and largest reserve of fresh water. And we all know what happens to people who butt heads with Putin et al…can you say radioactive isotope?

Sure enough, this Foreign Policy Association piece makes mention of “murky circumstances” surrounding the arrest of Rikhvanova’s son. Clealy more than a matter of posting bail…

Anyone still wondering if Russia really matters again yet should consider the case closed: Wal-Mart is interested in expanding to the Russian market.

The mega-chain has hired a German retailing veteran, Stephan Fanderl, to “explore retail business opportunities in Russia and neighboring markets.” The company CEO says a timeline has not been established, but experts suspect it will take about two years.

Wal-Mart’s international sales grew 17 percent last year, compared to 6 percent in the U.S., so the foreign focus is not altogether surprising.

No doubt there are a number of dangerous professions in the region, and ‘judge’ certainly ranks high on the list. Khasan Yandivev, deputy chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Ingushetia (a federal subject of Russia) was shot dead Sunday afternoon at a gas station while changing a tire on his car.

According to Russian media reports, Yandiyev had chaired trials of corrupt officials and also of Islamic rebels. The Ingushi are primarily Sunni Muslim, and officials blame radicals for a recent rise in violence there.

An interior ministry spokesman said an investigation was under way, but that no one had head shots fired.

Talks are scheduled to begin tomorrow in the hopes of settling a decades-old squabble between Russia and Japan over four of the Kuril islands, an archipelago stretching between the two nations. For some sixty years, the two nations have fought over Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and Habomai since the Soviet army occupied the islands at the close of WWII.

The two countries’ foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Masahiko Komura, are also expected to discuss North Korea’s nuclear program and the July G8 summit to be held in Japan.

Substantial details of the history of the dispute are in Andrew Johnson’s 2001 paper here.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging the new Armenian President, Serzh Sargsian, to investigate clashes between security forces and opposition demonstrators following February 19 elections in the country.

Opposition supporters claiming the elections were marred by fraud held ten days of peaceful protests in the capital city of Yerevan before forces moved in to disperse the crowds. Eight people died in the resulting violence, and hundreds were injured.

A state of emergency was declared, and a complete ban on public rallies was instituted. HRW alleges the government detained protesters, denied them lawyers and mistreated them while in police custody. Newspapers were censored, and the opposition media were kept from publishing. Amendments to the law on public assembly severly restricting public gatherings were made by the the National Assembly before it lifted the state of emergency, resulting in criticism from several European organizations.

Says HRW’s Holly Carter: “The new Armenian leader is facing serious challenges. He should take decisive steps to investigate the excessive use of police force and lift restrictions on freedom of assembly.”

President Sargsian was inaugerated April 9.

This piece on the Brookings Institute’s site is worth a read. Professor Vladimir N. Kolotov, of the Far East History Department at St. Petersburg State University offers good insight into how Russia’s foreign policy direction is affecting trends in East and Southeast Asia.

 Of course with a mention of Putin’s disdain for the U.S. war on terror.