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From: Transitions Online <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 6:59 PM
Subject: New at TOL - 1 October


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Transitions Online - Intelligent Eastern Europe

New at TOL:                                   Monday, 1 October 2001
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--- JOB ANNOUNCEMENT ---

The European Centre for War, Peace and the News Media (ECWPNM) is
looking for a Project Co-ordinator to commence immediately.  We are a
London-based NGO specialising in diversity training for the media and
capacity-building for minority NGOs. Please e-mail [log in to unmask] for
details.

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--- WEEK IN REVIEW ---

Pledge of Allegiance
Russia talks about cooperation in the new fight against terrorism, but
it's not yet clear what that really means.
by Maria Antonenko
http://www.tol.cz/week.html

Verbal Sniping
Romania's famed extremist has sparked a political battle by accusing the
president of allowing Hamas terrorists to train in the country.
by Zsolt-Istvan Mato
http://www.tol.cz/week.html

Voluntary Surrender
Bosniak Muslim wartime army chief turns himself in to The Hague
tribunal.
by Daria Sito
http://www.tol.cz/week.html

One Down
NATO's mission to disarm ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia is
completed, while a new mission to protect international monitors is
launched.
by Robert Alagjozovski
http://www.tol.cz/week.html

Basketball Without Borders
Leading clubs from the former Yugoslav republics again compete in one
league.
by Alen Mlatisuma
http://www.tol.cz/week.html

MORE WEEK IN REVIEW
http://www.tol.cz/week.html

Poland's Parties Begin Talks To Form New Government
Private Probe into Murder Comes Up Short in Ukraine
More War Crimes Suspects Arrested in Croatia
Pope Visits Kazakhstan and Armenia
Lithuanian "Street Politician" Announces Run for Presidency

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--- CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT ---

The Centre for Euro-Asian Studies is hosting a conference

 "THE EURO-ASIAN WORLD- THE FIRST DECADE OF TRANSITION
5 YEARS OF THE CENTRE - 10 YEARS OF TRANSITION"
on November 9, 2001 (The University of Reading). Among the participants
are members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of Banks and
Companies. For further details please contact Ms Evelyn McDonald
[log in to unmask] or  http://www.rdg.ac.uk/IEAS/

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--- OUR TAKE: A Shared Enemy ---
Russia could offer useful help in the U.S. fight against terrorism,
provided it is convinced that Washington is not encroaching on its
interests in the near abroad.
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=2
2&NrSection=16&NrArticle=2264&ST1=body&ST_T1=wir&ST_max=1

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--- IN FOCUS: Tajikistan: Suddenly in the Spotlight ---

Dangerous Neighborhood
Tajikistan is now the center of something big, at least as far as the
international community is concerned.
by Konstantin Parshin
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=2
2&NrSection=2&NrArticle=2258

A Losing Battle
A plague of locusts is adding to the already considerable misery in
rural Tajikistan.
by Ravshan Kasimov
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=2
2&NrSection=2&NrArticle=2254

Risks and Benefits
The results of a potentially protracted war in Afghanistan on Central
Asia and the world at large depend largely on the tactics. A TOL partner
post from Eurasianet.
by Ahmed Rashid
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=2
2&NrSection=3&NrArticle=2252

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--- FEATURES ---

Bosnia: A Safe Haven for Terrorists?
Osama bin Laden may or may not be directly connected to Islamist groups
in Bosnia, but there is little doubt that his message is in the hearts
of fundamentalists who found shelter here during and after the war.
by Esad Hecimovic
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=2
2&NrSection=2&NrArticle=2241

From the Balkan Reconstruction Report (http://balkanreport.tol.cz).

Two Cities, One Election
The results of Poland's elections--and the voters who went to the
polls--indicate a growing urban-rural split.
by Victor Gomez and Wojtek Kosc
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=2
2&NrSection=2&NrArticle=2251

A Common Cause
Czech and Slovak soldiers renew old friendships during joint military
exercises.
by Lubos Palata
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=2
2&NrSection=2&NrArticle=2239

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--- OPINIONS AND COLUMNS ---

The Ties That Bind
Lukashenka's victory in the recent Belarusian elections is likely to
draw the country closer to Russia.
by Vladimir Kozlov
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=2
2&NrSection=3&NrArticle=2243

EU Insider: Dream Crushing
The future of the euro, which is slated to be launched in January, is
under threat following the attacks on the United States.
by Gyorgy Foris
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=2
2&NrSection=17&NrArticle=2245

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--- OUR TAKE: A Shared Enemy ---

Russia could offer useful help in the U.S. fight against terrorism,
provided it is convinced that Washington is not encroaching on its
interests in the near abroad.

Vladimir Putin's speech in Berlin on 26 September was hailed by some
Russian politicians as the true end of the Cold War. The Russian
president confirmed Moscow's support for the U.S. fight against
terrorism and said NATO should consider letting the country join.

But Russia's reaction to the 11 September attacks on the United States
consists of several elements--which could take differing directions.

First, there is genuine human sympathy for the victims, which include
some 100 Russians who were working in the World Trade Center. Second,
there is popular relief that "at last" the United States may come to
realize the validity of Russia's hard-line approach toward Islamic
terrorism in Chechnya and elsewhere. Third, in recent years there is
still lingering annoyance at U.S. efforts to project power into areas
regarded by Russia as its "back yard," such as the Caspian Sea region
and Central Asia.

As a result, Russian policy could go in one of two directions. If the
United States agrees to respect the Caspian and Central Asia as part of
Russia's sphere of influence, Russia will probably engage in a serious
effort to root out terrorist bases in Afghanistan. Such help could
include intelligence sharing and overflight rights for military
missions. Equally important would be Russian cooperation in curtailing
Iraqi and Iranian support for terrorists and the access of those two
countries to materials that could enable them to acquire weapons of mass
destruction.

On the other hand, if Moscow feels that the United States is still
expending efforts to prop up anti-Russian organizations such as the
GUUAM (Georgia-Ukraine-Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan-Moldova) alliance and is
still talking about expanding NATO to the Baltic states, Russia will
limit itself to lukewarm, verbal expressions of support.

The bureaucratic interests of the dinosaurs in Russia's defense
establishment naturally incline it toward the latter approach, although
the fact that Putin was able to establish a personal rapport with U.S.
President  George W. Bush is a factor favoring cooperation. Likewise,
U.S. policy-making is finely balanced: the pragmatic Secretary of State
Colin Powell versus the Russophobic Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle at
the Pentagon. And National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice seems to sit
somewhere between those two camps.

Cooperation in pursuit of a common goal between countries who otherwise
have diverse national interests and values is nothing new. World War
II--a struggle of good against evil if ever there was one--was only won
thanks to an unholy alliance among Britain, the United States, and the
Soviet Union, led by a Stalinist regime hardly less evil than that of
Hitler. In war, moral absolutes go out of the window, both in the manner
in which war is waged and in the way allies are selected. If Bush
genuinely believes that a global war against terrorism has been declared
and must be fought to the finish, then allying himself with countries
that he might otherwise be wary of associating with may be part of the
deal.

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The TOL weekly newsletter is published by Transitions Online--The
leading news provider covering Eastern Europe. Check us out at
http://www.tol.cz

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more information or visit http://archive.tol.cz/mediakit/index.html

TOL publications:

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The TOL Wire................... http://wire.tol.cz

..........................................................

-- Transitions Online - Intelligent Eastern Europe

Copyright: Transitions Online 2001

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