Andrew Jameson
Chair, Russian Committee, ALL
Languages and Professional Development
1 Brook Street, Lancaster LA1 1SL UK
Tel: 01524 32371 (+44 1524 32371)
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From: Transitions Online <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: New at TOL
Date: 28 August 2000 21:29
Transitions Online (TOL) (http://www.tol.cz) is the leading Internet
magazine covering Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the former
Soviet Union. If you aren't already a member, fill out our registration
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This weekly update from Transitions Online is provided for your information
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NEW AT TOL:
WEEK IN REVIEW
(Free Access)
http://www.tol.cz/week.html
Azerbaijanis Mourn Death of Former President
Russia's Main Television Tower Goes Up in Smoke
Latvia Gets New Language Regulations
Kyrgyz Linguistic Commission Bans Two More Presidential Hopefuls
Bulgaria Expels Foreign Bad Boys
Kosovar Serbs Erupt in Fury Over Recent Deaths
Slovak Roma Under Attack
Tajiks Continue Crackdown on Mysterious Islamic Party
Political Faux Pas For Polish Presidential Candidate
American Millionaire Seeking Sunken Ferry Secret
Our Take: Living With The Lingua Franca
A TOL editorial
http://www.tol.cz/ouraug28.html
The full text of this article also appears below.
FEATURE: Operation Foreigner
by Russell Working
http://www.tol.cz/frartic/specr08008.html
(Free Access for a Week)
They want their goods, but not their people. In an aggressive effort to
stop Chinese "tourists" in Russia's Far East from illegally staying on as
construction workers, restaurateurs, roadside shoe repairmen, and traders,
police are conducting raids, rounding up those without documents, and
shipping them home.
FEATURE: Out-of-Work But Not Up-in-Arms
by Lubos Palata
http://www.tol.cz/frartic/specr08009.html
(Free Access for a Week)
Twenty percent unemployment nationally--even 40 percent in some
counties--numbers unseen in any Central European country in the last 10
years. In spite of the dire situation in Slovakia, social calm
predominates, with no waves of strikes or mass demonstrations. Most labor
experts agree that the main factors behind the lack of unrest are the
extensive amount of so-called "black labor"--undocumented and untaxed
work--and the reality that Roma comprise many of the unemployed, but aren't
likely to protest and push for change.
As part of this month's "In Focus" sports package: Survival of the Fittest
IN FOCUS: New Blood for the Sumo Challenge
by Nomin Lhagvasuren
http://www.tol.cz/frartic/newblood.html
(Free Access for a Week)
To a great extent, being a sumo wrestler means being Japanese. To eat
Japanese, to fight Japanese, to look Japanese, and to act Japanese. And for
foreigners, entering the strict, ancient, and very traditional world of
Sumo or "rikishi" wrestling is especially challenging--since 1962, the
sport has been a cornerstone of Japanese culture and customs. But of late,
outsiders, most notably Mongolians, have proven they have what it takes as
well.
BOOKS: A How-To Guide for Russian Newspapers
by Laura Belin
http://www.tol.cz/frartic/bkaug002.html
(Free Access for a Week)
In "A Newspaper for All Russia (Gazeta dlya vsei Rossii)," by Lyudmila
Resnyanskaya and Irina Fomicheva, two Russian journalists examine the
country's print media readership, and what it takes to run a successful
paper. Belin argues that, unlike many studies of contemporary Russian
media, the book is not about who bought whom for how much--but rather seeks
to answer more pertinent and probing questions. As an accompaniment to this
article, in "Dallas is Dying," Peter Rutland looks at how Russian cinema is
looking for a "Field of Miracles" to launch a comeback amid devastating
financial conditions.
http://www.tol.cz/books/bkaug003.html
The following article is part of TOL's series of Annual Surveys for 1999:
exclusive overviews written for TOL by top local and Western analysts and
edited by regional specialist Professor Peter Rutland of Wesleyan
University. These valuable resources follow the fine tradition established
by the OMRI/East-West Institute Annual Surveys. Both sets of reports, old
and new, can be found in our expanded Country Files
<http://www.tol.cz/links1.html> along with links and maps for the 27
countries in the post-communist world.
NATO's War for Kosovo
By Andrew Cottey
http://www.tol.cz/countries/yugar991.html
One of the defining events of 1999 was NATO's intervention in Kosovo. For
its supporters, NATO's action averted a catastrophe and set an important
precedent for humanitarian intervention. For critics, NATO's intervention
only intensified the appalling plight of the Kosovar Albanians, further
destabilized the already unstable Balkans, and set a dangerous precedent
for unilateral military intervention.
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BEGGING WITH DIGNITY
TOL desperately needs a computer upgrade. Used or new models welcome. If
you can help, please contact Luke Allnutt at [log in to unmask]
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RUSSIAN LIFE MAGAZINE -- Subscribe to the 43-year-old magazine of Russian
culture, history, travel and life. Each bimonthly issue is a colorful,
objective window into the reality of Russia, past, present and future. To
start a subscription, visit:
<http://www.russian-life.com/store/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=4242&aff=5>
To visit the rest of our website, where we sample stories from the
magazine, back issues of our FREE weekly e-mail newsletter, plus some great
resources (like a worldwide events calendar and directory of
Russophile-related businesses), simply go to: http://www.russian-life.com
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Please visit our partner sites:
We would like to call your attention to the launch of EurasiaNet--a leading
Internet news service, covering the countries of Central Asia and the
Caucasus, as well as Afghanistan, the Middle East and Mongolia. EurasiaNet
(http://www.eurasianet.org) is a website that provides exclusive news and
analysis on political, economic, environmental and social developments. The
website also offers a variety of other features including: hundreds of
links; an extensive
research database; book reviews; newsmaker interviews and a discussion
forum. The International Press Institute
(http://www.freemedia.at/index1.html) is a global network of journalists,
editors and media executives, dedicated to promoting freedom of the press
and improving the standards and practices of journalism.
Central Europe Review (http://www.ce-review.org) is the weekly Internet
journal of Central and East European politics, society, and culture and the
winner of the NetMedia 2000 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Online
Journalism in Europe.
The Network of Independent Journalists of Central and Eastern Europe (NIJ),
a weekly service run by the Croatian-based STINA press agency. To subscribe
to STINA's NIJ weekly service, giving you timely news of events in the
region, send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask]
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ADVERTISE HERE!
As part of its efforts to become self-sustainable and serve as a model for
other nonprofit organizations, Transitions Online has begun offering
interested advertisers the possibility to reach thousands of readers
through our weekly electronic mailings and on our site. Check out our newly
redesigned media kit (http://www.tol.cz/mediakit/) and find out how to
instantly reach a diverse, international audience with a demonstrated
interest in the post-communist world--people guaranteed to want to hear
what's new in products and services dealing with the region--and increase
your company or institution's exposure by targeting the English-speaking
elite in all of the 27 countries we cover.
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A Czech nonprofit dedicated to promoting independent journalism, TOL is
based in Prague and uses a network of local correspondents to provide
unique, cross-regional analysis. We encourage you to visit our site and
become part of a dynamic new media project dedicated to building
independent journalism in Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the
former Soviet Union.
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Our Take: Living With The Lingua Franca
Once again, language is in the news. Last week, the Latvian parliament
passed amendments to a language law that the international community and
the country's large ethnic Russian minority claim is discriminatory. In
Kyrgyzstan, two more presidential candidates were barred from running,
after failing a Kyrgyz-language test: That provoked criticism from some
politicians that tough language requirements were engineered by circles
around President Askar Akayev with the aim of getting rid of rivals.
Although in some places--as the Kyrgyz example shows--language is still a
tool in politicians' power games, many governments in the region are
thinking differently about language politics. States are abandoning
"language purity" and leaning toward more pragmatic, diverse policies that
take into account their relationship with Russia, the wishes of the
international community, and the economic realities of the region.
Latvia's language law--passed in 1989--was a reflection of
identity-building measures that emerging nations embraced in the dying days
of the Soviet Union. Such policies were understandable given years of
Soviet repression and linguistic Russification. Many Latvian and
ethnic-Russian experts agreed that in the 1980s the survival of Latvian as
a language was severely threatened. Across the region, more austere
language policies tended to be motivated by nationalism and retribution
rather than virtues of democratic pluralism. Those in power had an
opportunity to get back at their former oppressors and remove traces of the
past.
But try as nationalists might, shaking off Russian colonialism and hegemony
was--and is--no easy task. Political and intellectual elites throughout the
region tend to speak Russian. Most countries not only have large
ethnic-Russian minorities (over 25 million outside Russia and dotted around
the former Soviet Union) but also have non ethnic Russian minorities who
speak Russian as a first language. In Ukraine and Belarus many politicians
speak better Russian than their native languages. Another Kyrgyz
presidential contender, Felix Kulov, attempted to address his supporters in
Kyrgyz last year, but no one could understand him so he was asked to switch
to Russian.
Efforts to increase the usage of Kyrgyz have run up against a variety of
stumbling blocks: limited terminology and technical vocabulary, the
unpopularity of Kyrgyz-language media, and the reluctance of the non-Kyrgyz
minority to speak it. Added to the fact is the popularity of the
Russian-language television station ORT, which broadcasts across the former
Soviet Union. Moreover, about 95 percent of teaching material in Kyrgyz
schools is in Russian.
Latvia has the right idea. Not only will the amendments--which provide
guidance for the use of foreign languages for official seals, application
forms, and on language-proficiency tests--go some way in appeasing the
country's ethnic-Russian minority and the international community, but they
will also placate Moscow. Russia tends to get a little haughty over the
treatment of its kin abroad. Recently, after the death of a Ukrainian
musician in Lviv--allegedly in a fight with a group of
Russophones--Ukrainian authorities barred Russian music from public places,
much to the chagrin of Russian officials. On 19 July, the Russian State
Duma passed a resolution, accusing Kyiv of discriminating against ethnic
Russians and the Russian language in Ukraine.
States wanting to cozy up to the Russians have passed legislation to
benefit their Russian populations. Kyrgyzstan and Belarus have both raised
Russian's status to a second state language.
There are plenty of incentives on the table. Russian President Vladmir
Putin has told the Moldovan government that if it elevated Russian to a
second language it would cease its support for Transdniestrian separatists.
The Russian government has used the situation in Lviv as a bargaining chip
in difficult negotiations over Ukrainian debts for Russian gas.
It isn't just foreign policy concerns or minority rights (a good way of
winning brownie points with organizations like the OSCE) but also a matter
of economics. Economically, the region needs Russian. Language is the bread
and butter of economic progress. Make a deal with a taxi driver in Riga, or
a gold trader in Bishkek, and more than likely you will speak Russian.
Like it or not, Russian is still the region's lingua franca. Despite
then-British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd in 1990 saying in triumphalist
vein that English would replace Russian, at most levels of communication
across the region, Russian still rules. Enthusiasts seeking a new common
language for the region, like Esperanto, remain the trainspotters of the
linguistic world.
But despite the progress, some remain disgruntled. Citing Russia's
"post-imperial hangover," some Latvian officials have expressed concern
that Moscow is not willing to give due recognition to the country's
efforts. Other officials have charged that the OSCE has singled out Latvia
in pushing the changes. It seems that sensitivity and compromise are much
needed. In an ethnically diverse region, bi-lingual coexistence is the only
way to go.
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