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-- May 18, 2002 --
Hello everyone,
As Americans, or more broadly as Westerners, our vision of the
world is often surprisingly narrow and the much-vaunted superiority
of our knowledge is sometimes questionable. Two examples:
One recent morning as I did my sit-ups, I watched a BBC interviewer
question the prime minister of Thailand about press freedom and
political power. Several questions pointedly asked about Thailand's
attempt earlier this year to expel two Western reporters for writing
about a dispute between the prime minister and the revered king,
as well as about the government's efforts to muzzle the local
media. In part, the prime minister replied that he rarely reads
newspapers - nor does he need to -- since he's a newsmaker and
knows what's happening. As for political power, why would he need
to restructure the government as critics fear, the prime minister
said. After all, he won by a landslide and is the most popular
prime minister in the history of the freest country in the world.
The night before, I attended a U.S. Embassy-sponsored discussion
about sustainable development and livable cities featuring Jonathan
Weiss, a former EPA official and ex-Gore environmental advisor.
Weiss now heads George Washington University's Center on Sustainable
and Regional Growth. Weiss talked mostly about United States experiences
with urban sprawl and "smart growth," with mass transit and reuse
of brownfields (abandoned industrial sites). His point was that
society can successfully pursue growth that simultaneously encourages
environmental protection, economic growth and social equity.
That may be true back home but how realistic is such thinking
for most of the world, in countries where abysmal rural opportunities
impel millions of people to head -- in hope or desperation - to
cities where there is no housing, no employment, no education
and no embracing social community? To talk about regional planning
and similar concepts in these places is grounded more in fantasy
than realities -- yet the environmental, health and societal issues
are far more pressing and affect far more people than a zoning
dispute over a condo development or superstore in a Lansing suburb.
That type of reality gap is evident every day here in Tashkent.
For example, after Weiss's presentation, we and three other Americans
ate dinner at a Georgian (as in the Caucasus, not the U.S. South)
restaurant. We paid (overpaid, really) 1,500 sum, a bit over $1
for the unofficial taxi to the restaurant. Dinner was about 42,000
sum (roughly $30, or $5 each) for 6, including beer, wine, tip
and live entertainment - with so much food we couldn't finish
it all.
The amount we spent for one meal approximately equals the average
monthly wage in Uzbekistan, according to statistics I've read.
And I regularly see adults and children scavenging in the Dumpsters
outside my apartment building.
I'm not saying we shouldn't continue to address problems such
as sprawl and uncontrolled growth at home. What I am saying is
that we - the Americans, the Westerners, the outsiders - can't
decide or dictate how other nations address those problems, although
how they're solved or not solved does affect us at home. At best,
we can assist and advise and empathize and adjust. At worst, we
can shut our eyes and feel superior.
#
Speaking of reality, I spent two afternoons leading workshops
on press relations (who is the press, identifying audiences, effective
press releases and handling media interviews) for two dozen representatives
from local nongovernmental organizations in Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan
and Uzbekistan. These are smart, dedicated men and women, underpaid,
often underappreciated, doing pioneering work in conservation
education, energy, water resources management, democracy-building
and other fields.
My workshops were part of a five-day training session run by
the US Agency for International Development's Natural Resource
Management Project that operates in a number of parts of the former
Soviet Union.
After I finished, one participant asked to talk to me in the
hallway. How, she wondered, can an NGO reach the press and gain
coverage of a controversial position or project when the press
is totally controlled or owned by the government? Should the people
of an NGO run the risk to themselves and their organization and
antagonize the government by going to the international press
such as BBC or to independent news Web sites? Beyond Western media
theories of an aggressive free press and aside from platitudes
such as "things will get better in the next few years," there
was little concrete advice I could give that she hadn't already
thought of.
As I said, these people are smart - and they're also realists
who understand the existing limitations of the systems they must
operate under. They're not quitters. I greatly admire their courage,
their stamina and their commitment.
#
"Foreign correspondents criticize us for not accepting certain
Western styles of accepting laws," Narzulla Jurayev, who chairs
the Oliy Majlis Committee on Science, Education, Culture and Sports,
told my students and me. "However, each country has its own customs,
and laws should serve the people of that country. We'd like to
demonstrate there is an Uzbek model for accepting laws in all
spheres." Some people, he continued "look for reasons to criticize
us but we are building our country ourselves. We have chosen the
way of respecting the human being despite religious and ethnic
differences."
The setting was his office in Oliy Majlis, the glistening parliament
building that few Uzbeks have seen up close, let alone from inside.
With the help of my vice-rector, who is also an elected deputy,
we cracked that barrier.
We were escorted into the marble-floored, high-ceilinged lobby
along a red carpet. The modernistic architectural theme is moderated
by the paintings that line the walls and reflect traditional Uzbek
styles and themes.
Our host Jurayev is a political scientist and cultural advisor
to the president. He was a newspaper journalist and author of
more than 20 books in a previous life. He gave us what was, in
effect, a civics lesson on the structure and organization of Oliy
Majlis, as well as plans now underway to make it a two-house rather
than unicameral entity. (As arcane and theoretical as that type
of change may seem, you'll be pleased to know that a referendum
on the issue passed with more than 90 percent of the vote in January,
at the same time voters by an equally huge margin magnanimously
voted to extend the president's term by another two years. No
pregnant chads here leaving everyone in doubt.)
We also learned that bills always pass unanimously, proving that
it's hard to disagree with a great idea. There's undoubtedly a
lesson there for our own Congress.
On entering the building, we were told no photos are allowed.
But where's a will, there's a way, so I asked Jurayev to pose
at the podium of the magnificent domed chamber where the delegates
meet. Several students then posed at the podium and cajoled me
into doing the same. (The power trip would have been greater if
all 250 delegates had been in their seats.) At the end of the
tour, we set up for group photos in the lobby. When a guard tried
to intervene, Jurayev (who also would be in the pictures) came
to our defense.
Someday - soon, I hope - the people of Uzbekistan will not only
get to take pictures where their government operates but to see
how things work.
Eric
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