Seal of approval
Ding Ying

VLADIMIR Putin is one of the most attractive political leaders in the world, and by some accounts one of the most successful based on his accomplishments while in office. When analyzing Putin’s two consecutive terms as president during the past eight years, some Chinese foreign affairs scholars give him a high score, because they believe that he has greatly improved Russia’s comprehensive national strength. “I would say that Vladimir Putin is the most outstanding Russian leader in recent decades,” said Shi Ze, Director of the Center for Security Studies of Surrounding Areas, the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS). He stressed that Putin’s most prominent achievement has been that he changed the image of Russia as a laggard country.
Shi recalled that when Putin became president in 2001, Russia was in a messy situation. Its economy lagged behind. Its political situation was unstable and national separatists were active. Political and financial oligarchs, some of whom were controlling the country’s media, distributed the central government’s power. Inside the country, citizens were complaining about poor living standards; outside, Russia was not respected as a big country. “Now, Russia has a stable and orderly political and social environment, while its economy is generally trying to attain sustainable development,” Shi told Beijing Review.
Shi said Putin recovered the Central Government’s authority first by striking at the oligarchs, who had assumed ownership of the country’s state-owned companies through privatization, including several large oil and gas firms. By sentencing these oligarchs to jail and reclaiming the companies, Putin’s administration not only ended their influence on government policies, but also set a strong base for the country’s economic development, he said. The second way that Putin enhanced the country’s political situation was his direct appointment of regional officials, Shi said. Putin also contained separatists, including those in Chechnya who were responsible for several major terrorist attacks in Russia. As a result, the influence of the Chechen rebels has now died down, Shi said. Putin also strengthened the country’s links to and cooperation with other former Soviet Union republics, which have helped to improve the Central Government’s power, he said.
Shi also pointed out that Putin’s wise choices in selecting his colleagues helped him to consolidate power and rebuild the country’s political and economic strength. The foremost example has been Dmitry Medvedev, Putin’s appointed successor and current First Deputy Prime Minister. Putin has “an excellent and efficient team” that has made great achievements in implementing practical policies and combating corruption, Shi said. More economic muscle International affairs experts also pointed out that Putin has done well in revitalizing Russia’s economy during his tenure as president. At a press conference on February 14, Putin said the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) had grown 72 percent since 2000. If Russia could sustain its current annual GDP growth of 7.2 percent, it could double its GDP by the end of 2009, he added. According to government statistics, Russia’s GDP growth reached 8.1 percent last year. The Russian economy also has been fortified by foreign exchange and gold reserves totaling nearly $500 billion. Putin had seized a golden opportunity to boost the economy as world oil price started to skyrocket, Shi said. “For Russia, rising oil prices not only bring a large amount of wealth, but also give the country a strong base for optimizing its economic growth structure, which will focus more on sustainable development rather than simply selling natural resources,” Shi said.
For the Russian people, the country’s economic development brings practical benefits, Shi said. They currently have the seventh greatest per-capita purchasing power in the world and over the last few years their actual incomes and retirement pensions have more than doubled. Russia’s economic might also has helped improve its military forces, because the country has more money to buy innovative equipment, while it produces more hi-tech weapons, Shi said. All these in turn have enhanced Russia’s standing in the world, Shi said. Putin’s energy source diplomacy has played a big role in the country’s relations with other nations, so that Russia is now more respected as a big power on the world stage.
“Russia is an important power that says ‘no’ to a unilateral world,” Shi said. In recent years, Russia under Putin has strengthened its cooperation in various areas with China and India. Russia and some Western countries have joined hands to fight terrorism. And Russia’s input has become more important in discussions about international problems, such as nuclear issues in Iran and on the Korean Peninsula, Shi said. “Putin is a very popular president with his people,” Shi said, adding that during the past years he has maintained a high approval rate of 75 percent-80 percent. Shi said Putin’s annual public press conferences serve as an open channel between Putin and the Russian people.
The great communicator
Wang Lijiu, a scholar at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) agrees that Putin’s yearly public press conferences show that he has been a successful leader. These meetings serve three main purposes, he said. First, Putin can state his own policies directly to the public. Second, he can explain these policies clearer and better than other politicians. And third, he can get to know what citizens are concerned about. “Many of the Russians’ demands were made known during the press conferences, which could be resolved some time afterward,” Wang said. “The people believe the president cares about their problems.”
Wang also pointed out that Putin’s statements during the last annual public press conference on February 14 served as both a review of his past achievements and an outlook for the country’s future. On some levels, Putin was setting forth requirements for his successor to follow, Wang said. The country’s strong political, economic, military and diplomatic strength today shows that Putin “has done a great job,” although some Westerners have been “too picky” when it comes to analyzing his performance as president, Wang said. For example, Western critics usually condemn what they consider to be Putin’s backpedaling on democratic reform in Russia, while they ignore the important fact that living conditions and social security have been greatly improved since he came to power, Wang said.
Putin’s stances on relations with big countries in the world have been very clear, especially ties with China, the United States and European countries, Wang said. “As a founder and advocate of the current Sino-Russian strategic cooperative partnership, Putin had stated his desire to develop bilateral ties on many occasions,” Wang said, adding that the stable relationship has benefited both sides. Putin has realized that maintaining such ties is a strategic choice and that developing Sino-Russian relations has been an independent policy on both sides, which will not be influenced by other countries. “Putin is very satisfied with his achievements in this area,” Wang said. Some Western leaders have been concerned about Russia’s renaissance under Putin-a remnant of the Cold War mentality, Wang said. Even after Russia supported the United States on jointly combating terrorism following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Americans have not changed their strategy to shrink Russia’s sphere of influence by including Eastern European countries in NATO.
“Thus Putin gave up his fantasy of becoming a friend of the United States and adjusted his policy to the White House,” Wang said. Unlike U.S. policy, Russia’s approach toward Eastern European countries has been more practical and constructive. It has aimed to promote cooperation through dialogue, because Russia traditionally considers itself part of Europe. But because many European countries are also NATO members, they have conflicts and disputes with Russia. New-generation European leaders, who are more pro-U.S., have different stances on Russia, Wang said. “European countries are not yet clear about their stance when dealing with Russia and the United States,” he said. “But a worsening relationship with Russia is not their choice either.”
Putin’s Prospective Plan
President Vladimir Putin’s speech to the Russian State Council in Moscow on February 8 was a blueprint for the country’s future strategies for development. He outlined the following goals for Russia’s long-term development by 2020: —Improving innovative development and generally changing current economic growth mode that is fully dependent on natural resources. The strategy of innovative development should be based on human potential and the effective use of knowledge and individual skills. —Decentralizing power in Russia. Putin stressed that the government system in Russia is too bureaucratic to realize dynamic development. “The government should be a center that develops strategic plans and approves federal programs with clearly set tasks and assessment criteria,” he said. —Setting economic growth goals for Russia. Putin said Russia should double its GDP by the end of 2009 while maintaining its current economic growth rate. He also suggested reducing the state-controlled sector of the economy and called for more private investment. —Improving the army’s position in the country and increasing military salaries. Military modernization is crucial to the country’s security, Putin said.

(The Daily Mail-Beijing Review  Articles Exchange Item)



Age of interdependence
Dr Moeed Pirzada

IN PAKISTAN media, civil society and public at large continue to be consumed by the acrobatics in the political arena. And the political pundits are still grappling with the widely believed rumours of Asif Ali Zardari’s meeting Musharraf’s s in UAE. In days of such “narrow focus” the wider world gets blurred. No wonder few have paid attention to the kaleidoscope around us: the Russian elections, the visit of the Ahmadinejad to Baghdad, the tightening of the economic sanctions by the UN Security council on Iran or even the sensational swings of the US primaries. But away from the glare of all this mega politics — of nations, major megalomaniacs and their ego trips — I want to focus on an event that had appeared on the retinas of our consciousness like a flash and then disappeared into oblivion.
It too involves some “minor megalomaniacs” and some idiots, yet to my mind it was a manifestation of the age we live in: the age of global inter-dependence; a reality that has landed upon us without giving us any opportunity to adjust to its myriad challenges... Geert Wilders, a member of Tweede Kamer, the Dutch House of Representative, is making a short film, “Fitna” that aims to prove that Holy Quran is “a fascist book”. A clip of that film was placed on You Tube, in Europe. Government of Pakistan, apparently, alarmed that this might spark riots and violence decides to shut down the You Tube in its jurisdiction. And then a miscommunication takes place between PTCL — Pakistan’s largest telecom company — and PCCW — a Hong Kong telecom giant — and the blocking message starts replicating on the Internet world wide. Result: You Tube shuts down across the globe. First complaints arise from California. If there was ever any need to demonstrate the physical interdependence of the world we now live in — then this was it. Yet most of us fail to realise and accept that physical reliance places new limits upon our individual and collective lives and decision-making process.
Government of Pakistan’s decision, for instance, to ban the You Tube was a 19th century mentality, first invoked in Victorian England against the Penny Press, in application against technologies of 21st century. It appears that no one really bothered to understand the nature of You Tube; it was not a billboard lying open in physical space. Access to the web site is already restricted by the barriers of: possessing a computer, having an internet facility, high speed connection to download You Tube and finally the ability to understand, given that most of the material related to “Fitna” was actually in French. No wonder many in Pakistan suspect that the Musharraf government’s real objective behind the decision to get rid of the You Tube, in its realm, was to prevent its citizenry from watching video evidence of election rigging cropping up in the cyber space.
Having said this, the idiocy of the Pakistani establishment is equally matched by the prejudices and confusions of the European mind. And it reminds me of an interesting interaction. Many years ago I met a lady, in a party somewhere in Islamabad. She was in her late forties passing through a difficult divorce and I in my young twenties, fully hormonal, with an eye on her niece. I told her that I knew I would be a very liberal husband. And she said: “How do you know; you have never been married?” And I retorted: “Because I am a liberal and I know myself” and she smiled the kind of smile you see on Mona Lisa.
Even then I had consumed the writings of Russell and Voltaire and used to be a great defender of Salman Rushdie; but over the years as I evolved through a liberal lover, a conservative husband and a possessive father I kind of fathomed the cynicism of her smile. And I smile the same when I see the Europeans brandishing their placards of secularism. Gentlemen, there are phases of knowing thyself. The idea of a well-rounded educational background for legislators is a controversial one. However, in case of Geert Wilders this assumes some significance. This Dutch member of the parliament and founder leader of his “Party for Freedom” has a Health Insurance course and some law certificates as evidence of cerebral exercise. Armed with these impressive insights into human history and in this age of global interdependence, he has launched his crusade to “reform Islam and Quran” to “tailor them to suit the Dutch law!
Lunatics exist everywhere. But what have Dutch government, media and the intellectuals done to expose him, to cut him to size? Well the answer is: In December 2007 the mainstream radio station, NOS — radio declared him the politician of the year. Imagine the Western reaction if a popular TV or radio station in Pakistan celebrated a rabid Mullah uttering profanities against Christ or Christians? Immanuel Kant in his 1795 essay, “Perpetual Peace” had argued that it is not the state of peace but the state of war that is the natural state among men living side by side and for peace we have to strive hard. Yet more than 200 years later when microchips and Internet have placed us face to face, many still fail to realise the responsibilities of an age of interdependence. Ironically, it is least appreciated in the countries from where most jargon of globalisation appears. Perhaps, if for nothing else, then to add some credibility to its lectures worldwide, European Parliament should either arrange for the hospitalisation or the forced university education of Geert Wilders. It may be a small step in the right direction!

—Khaleej Times




Palestine, Somalia & US media
Abukar Arman

WHENEVER the media fails to press and keep the powerful at check, the inevitable consequences are prolonged oppression, lethal destruction, and radicalized insurgency. Aside from Baghdad, nowhere is such consequence more evident than in Gaza and Mogadishu. As if the damage resulting from the inhumane blockade that cut off fuel, electricity and other material and services essential to the survival of the civilian populations in Gaza was not enough, the Israeli military is getting ready to wage “a major military offensive”. The BBC reports that Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said “...they (the Palestinians) will bring upon themselves a bigger Holocaust because we will use all our might to defend ourselves.”
In a similar oppressive approach, the Ethiopian forces continue their routine indiscriminate shelling of densely populated Mogadishu neighborhoods. According to Elman Human Rights group “seven thousand civilians, mostly women and children” have been killed in 2007— the first year of the occupation. Since the occupation, life in Mogadishu has become so unbearable that approximately 1 million civilians, mostly women and children, have fled for safety and became what is known as Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). They now inhabit makeshift refugee camps and are deprived of goods and services essential for their survival. According to the UN, the total number of people in Somalia at risk of starvation is now 1.5 million, thus making the situation there “the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa.”
Meanwhile, the belligerent oppression continues with impunity. B’ Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, documented a case of a heart patient Fawziyeh A-Dark (a 66-year-old woman) who died of heart attack after the Red Crescent ambulance coming to transport her to the hospital was denied permission to go through the checkpoint. Similarly under the Ethiopian occupation, as documented by many local and international human rights groups, civilians are routinely denied their most basic rights, including the right to have medical attention. Both the occupation and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces are reported to practice random killing of civilians to psychologically intimidate the masses.
According to Human Right Watch, both Israel and Ethiopia are in direct violation of Articles 33 and 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention as they have been collectively punishing entire populations for the sins of the few. So why is it that we do not see any of these things in our nightly news or the front pages of US newspapers? Let us follow the bloody tacks of history back to the Rwandan genocide and the American mainstream media’s failure to adequately scrutinize the Clinton administration’s callous approach to the genocide in that country. So, once again, history seems to be repeating itself. And, needless to say, this time Washington’s fingerprints are found both in Palestine and Somalia. For years Washington has been allotting billions of dollars to the State of Israel and shielding it against any UN resolution (however symbolic) that might be critical of it. And, since 9/11, Washington has been providing diplomatic, economic, and military support to Ethiopia. Furthermore, US warplanes in pursuit of three suspected international terrorists have bombed Somali villages while Ethiopian tanks roared into Mogadishu in late 2006. Still, media remains shamefully silent.

—Arab News