Why It Matters : Europe

Europe and Belarus: A Spring Thaw

Newsweek — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:04:23 GMT

By Anna Nemtsova

Are the wings of change blowing in Belarus, Europe’s last dictatorship? On EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana's recent visit with Belarus President Alexandr Lukashenka, Solana called Belarus "a European country" while Lukashenka spoke of a “thaw in our relations” with the EU.

There are tentative signs of a Minsk Spring – a gradual slackening of Lukashanka’s tight grip. Two of 15 newspapers banned from distribution in 2006, Narodnaya Volia and Nasha Niva, have now been officially allowed. After pressure from the EU, authorities have released the political prisoners Syarhey Parsyukevich, Andrei Kim and Alyaksandr Kazulin. One of the major opposition movements, For Freedom, has been allowed to register; and representatives of civil society and opposition parties were invited for a meeting with Lukashenka (though not all accepted).

Why the thaw? Alexander Milinkevich, leader of the now-official For Freedom movement, says that Lukashanka needs good relations with EU in order to save Belarus’ limping economy. "We are concerned about a total economic collapse and without EU help to reform, our state might disappear,” says Lukashenka. “It’s a matter of survival.”

At their meeting with Solana, Milinkevich and Kozulin talked about continuing political persecutions and a new crop of political prisoners such as the recently arrested businessmen Mikalay Autukhovich, Yury Lyavonau and Uladzimir Asipenka, as well as the “Young Front” activist Artsyom Dubski. They also told Solana about the violent disbanding of the oppositional rally on February 14, and on the Day of Belarusian Solidarity on February 16th. During those rallies dozens of peaceful protesters were beaten up. “Authoritarian regime does not know how to rule without violence. They have been building this power for 15 years,” says Milinkevich. “It is too scary for them to pass some of their power to civil society. We only hope that the debt of 15 billion dollars and the threat of full economy collapse will push authorities to keep their promises to EU.”

At the Minsk Holocaust Museum director Yulia Lishuk says that “political thaw” began for her when president Lukashenka visited the Yama memorial in the former Minsk Ghetto last fall, for the first time in last 15 years. Until last year, Lukashenka maintained an official silence about the Holocaust in Belarus. “We still do not have a single word about Byelorussian partisan resistance or Holocaust in official school text books. But at least the president finally admitted the Holocaust did take place, this is a sign we might have our history rehabilitation coming soon.” Ales Antsipenka, the director of Belarusian Collegium, an unregistered Belarusian-language ‘university’ which teaches students in offices and private apartment in Minsk, hopes that the thaw might allow its students to have a chance to study in Belarusian language, currently banned in mainstream universities in favor of Russian. “Higher education needs liberalization, this country is in deep need of at least one free thought university that would be teaching students in their mother tongue,” says Antsipenka.

Not everybody believes that the thaw is anything but cosmetic. Valery Bulhakau, editor-in-chief Arche, a Minsk-based magazine, says he has “no big illusions” for any “so-called political spring.” Arche is a thick Belarusian language intellectual magazine publishing extracts from foreign and domestic novels, scientific articles and political analyses. Earlier this month week a court branded his magazine ‘extremist’ and ruled to confiscate all copies. The decision was made at an hour-long closed hearing. “The Belarusian KGB has been given a new instrument - a law against extremism that they use to suppress any independent thought,” says Bulhakau.“KGB is still censoring free speech,” says Alexander Starkevich, deputy chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists functions. “For 15 years authorities persuaded the same repressive policy for media and the latest news we have do not give us any hope that this policy is going to change.”

Earlier this month Belarus’s foreign ministry cancelled accreditation of a correspondent for the Polish newspaper Gazety Wyborczej for ‘”criticizing the head of state.” More, authorities refused to register Bel Sat, Belarus’ only independent TV channel.Lukashenka may be starting a thaw, but there’s a lot of ground to cover before his regime starts to look anything like a democracy.

One Point of Light in Bush's Environmental Legacy

Newsweek — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:56:41 GMT

By Anders Rönmark

Few Europeans shed tears for George W. Bush when he left office Tuesday. His handling of the Iraq War and the U.S. failure to ratify the Kyoto environmental treaty were two of the biggest black marks against him. Yet in Sweden, the end of the Bush era marks a bittersweet moment: the last day in office for Michael Wood, the most famous and perhaps most influential U.S. ambassador to Sweden in history. Since Bush appointed his long-time friend to the office in 2006, Wood, a media executive, has been feted by government officials, business leaders and the Swedish media for his groundbreaking work in alternative energy.

Unusually, for an ambassador, Wood has tried to promote Swedish business interests in the United States, rather than just U.S. interests in Sweden. Wood started out by visiting every county of Sweden, meeting with scientists and entrepreneurs and put together a list of the 23 most promising Swedish companies, such as Comfort Window System (which makes energy-efficient window fittings) and Sekab (a producer of cellulosic ethanol), and began promoting them to U.S. investors, both public and private. Wood's List, as it has become known, now numbers 52 companies, and federal agencies and departments in the United States, including the Pentagon, are now investing in and cooperating with Swedish companies. For instance, Swedish Biofuels has received $5 million dollars from the U.S Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop jet fuels containing biological components. Wood's program has also attracted the interest of several U.S. states. In 2007 Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm visited Sweden, on Wood's invitation, and her economic development team has made four trips to the country. Result: Swedish Biogas has opened a plant in Flint, Mich., to create biogas from the city's sewage plant, to power Flint's buses and produce fertilizers; Swedish company Chemrec is now working with a paper mill in Escanaba, Mich., on a technology called black liquor gasification that recycle pulp waste into fuel. All told, Wood's program has resulted in business activity worth approximately $150 to $200 million dollars, he says. "But the potential of the companies on just this one list is huge," he says. "We're talking billions of dollars."

Wood's interest in the alternative energy industry came shortly after his appointment, when he realized that an ambassador to a small country like Sweden was most likely to be successful if he focused on what he calls "one big thing." Nick Burns, the U.S. undersecretary of state, "liked the idea of me working to make Sweden a member of NATO," says Wood. Condoleezza Rice "thought that promoting democracy in the former Soviet states should be my top priority." But Bush, the erstwhile oilman, liked a third option: "He told me 'I bet the Swedes are ahead of us when it comes to alternative energy. Go there and find out what they're doing.'" Many were skeptical. Bush had hardly demonstrated much interest in the industry, and many believed the failure to ratify Kyoto was emblematic of the administration's beliefs about the environment. But Wood's program has been so successful that it has inspired other U.S. embassies, particularly in Scandinavia, to work harder on promoting alternative energy solutions--a small bright spot in a presidential legacy most of the people living there would just as soon forget.

Can the World Spend Itself Out of a Depression?

Newsweek — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 01:41:03 GMT

By Stefan Theil

As governments throw around hundreds of billions of dollars, pounds and yuans to rescue the global economy—dwarfed by China’s $586 billion spending plan and Obama’s expected $700 billion plan—the critics of deficit spending have kept mostly to the shadows recently. Today, however, they took center stage—call it the Great Pushback. It wasn’t just deficit hawks in the U.S. Senate, who voted down the $15 billion bailout for Detroit automakers. In Europe, a battle is raging over whether spending in an appropriate response to the economic crisis.

The dispute centers on comments made by Germany’s finance minister, who ridiculed British plans to spend $30 billion to stimulate its economy as “crass Keynesianism.” The barb could just as well have been directed at similar plans in the United States, China and at the whole notion of government spending to stimulate the economy. Germany, which is known for fiscal rectitude and a savings rate that puts Americans to shame, leads a small group of European countries, including Poland, that are balking at coughing up the vast sums Europe’s leaders believe is needed.

The Germans insist they don't underestimate the depth of the crisis, but disagree about the risks of massively hiking government debt for what they see as ineffective and wasteful programs. German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück, in an interview with Newsweek, said it was "breathtaking" to watch the speed at which supply-siders and fiscal conservatives were willing to "toss around billions." The centerpiece of the British plan, a 13-month temporary cut in the national sales tax from 17.5 to 15 percent, would have no effect other than saddle future generations of Brits with enormous deficits, Steinbrück warned.

Steinbrück's comments raised the hackles of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He lashed back at the Germans, calling them out of step with the rest of the world for their pestering reminders about the dangers of easy money and deficits. (For the record: Despite the rhetoric, the Germans have their own $41 billion spending plan in addition to a $670 billion bank bailout fund, but oppose having to put up money for a bigger, coordinated European effort for now. Their budget is balanced, Germans have had no housing or credit bubble, no wealth effect as few Germans invest in equities, and jobs are only now starting to get hit because of falling exports.)

Steinbrück may have been criticizing Britain, but his complaints are aimed at all the big spenders for feeding illusions about what he derides as "The Great Rescue Plan." His boss, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, last week also insisted Germany would refuse "to participate in this senseless race for billions" and that she was "deeply concerned" that the policy of cheap money and massive deficit spending in the U.S. and elsewhere risked repeating the very mistakes that precipitated the crisis. (See Newsweek's story about Germany's Mrs. No.) It’s strange that America's remaining fiscal conservatives now find themselves joined by a German Social Democrat like Steinbrück, who said a few months ago that Karl Marx wasn't so far off when he described the failings of financial capitalism. Is Steinbrück a voice of reason, or are he and other fiscal conservatives just fiddling as the world burns? With the crisis like a fog before us, the jury is still out.

France's Socialists: The Mothball Party

Tracy McNicoll — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:26:54 GMT

If the first few minutes of Martine Aubry’s three-year term as leader of the French Socialist Party are any indication, it's going to be a tough time.

Last night in Paris, Aubry was granted victory by 102 ballots, or 0.07 percent of the more than 134,700 votes cast. In a vast room above the art deco amphitheater where the party’s national council okayed her slim win, Aubry, seated, spoke to the press. She made all the predictable noises. She reached out to her defeated opponent, saying the party had to get back to work. She even took a few jabs at President Nicolas Sarkozy’s policies. But she hardly electrified her audience. Here and there among the jaded reporters were empty pink chairs.

Then, moments after Aubry had gone, losing candidate Ségolène Royal made her appearance, and suddenly there was media mayhem. Television crews, surprised by her audacious arrival, scrambled for their positions, screamed instructions as they ran. A scrum of cameramen, competing to capture Royal’s entrance up close and ignoring warnings barked by colleagues, backed into a row of tripods that fell with a clatter.

Royal gave her statement standing up, a phalanx of allies behind her, as photographers teetered on the pink chairs. She had just begun to speak -- “We have led a beautiful battle to transform to Socialist Party. And that battle continues” -- when a photographer lost his footing, knocking over a drinking glass that hit the floor with a loud crash. “There's the proof!” laughed Royal, without missing a beat.

Yes, Aubry's going to have her work cut out for her. For the last 18 months, since Sarkozy beat Royal in the presidential eleciton, he has utterly dominated French politics. Having obliterated the far right last year, he's now moved in on the center left. At a time of financial crisis, he’s shifted his discourse toward what might easily have been Socialist Party policies. He declared the end of laissez-fairism in September and he’s going to launch a major economic stimulus package during Aubry’s first full week in power.

Meanwhile Aubry's got to start her party slogging toward the June 2009 European elections, when second-string parties like the Greens already look like they'll be chipping away at Socialist constituencies. And in the 2010 regional elections, the party has everything to lose, since it nearly swept the field in 2004. “Martine Aubry has almost no margin for error," says political analyst Dominique Reynié, who heads the Foundation for Political Innovation in Paris, adding "she’ll be endlessly reminded that she has a job that she maybe shouldn’t have."

Last night, Ségolène Royal released a video for her supporters in which she reluctantly acquiesced (albeit with a bit of schadenfreude) to the results. She noted she'd gotten half the vote, then said, “Half? What am I saying? Surely a little bit more, because we weren’t allowed a new vote. That’s how it is.” C’est comme ça. More importantly, though, she sounded like she was hitting the campaign trail. Again. “We’re going to continue, because 2012 is soon, 2012 is tomorrow,” she said, promising initiatives like cheaper party memberships in districts she won. “I’m going to commit myself all the way. Because I have some time on my hands, with the way things turned out,” she laughed.

Aubry, for her part, has to worry not only about her avowed rival, Royal, but about her own ostensible allies. The motley coalition of old-guard heavyweights that brought her the party leadership had more distaste for Royal than political affinities with her. Keeping Royal out of office also keeps their presidential hopes alive. Now that they’ve (barely) slayed that dragon, finding common cause could be tough.

Outside the party, the Socialists’ enduring divisions create opportunities for reshaping France’s political landscape.

Centrist leader François Bayrou finished third to Royal and Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential race, but a split Socialist Party may widen the avenue for him to march up the middle. Whether or not to ally with Bayrou for the 2012 race became a major fault-line during the Socialist leadership battle (Royal is for, Aubry against), and if exasperated center-leftist Socialists choose him directly, it may be Bayrou who's troubling Sarkozy’s bid for a second term, not the Socialists.

Olivier Besancenot - mailman by day, charismatic young far-left leader by night - has been putting persistent pressure on the Socialists’ left flank. Now the increasingly popular communist revolutionary is using his momentum to mount a new anti-capitalist party (for now called, catchily, the New Anti-Capitalist Party). There, too, disappointed left-of-the-left Socialists could go postal and return the Socialists to sender.

But the big winner is Sarkozy. He's been spared any convincing opposition to his presidency thus far, and the new Socialist order – a divided party with its own well-oiled, internal opposition -- poses little threat in the immediate future. “The Socialist Party was supposed to come out of a complicated period with this convention and this election, to find its place again in the national opposition. On the contrary, they’re headed deeper into difficulty,” says Reynié. “In the months and years to come, they could perpetuate this scene of a party more opposed to itself than to Nicolas Sarkozy.” And in any case, Sarkozy has already dealt a deathblow to the widely discredited 35-hour workweek – Aubry’s best-known oeuvre.

In the street outside the amphitheatre last night, a handful of Ségolène Royal supporters from the suburbs north of Paris braved bitter cold with protest slogans hand-printed out on copy-machine paper. The veteran group of card-carrying lefties clearly had encyclopaedic knowledge of more glorious battles. They ticked off ancient history to support Royal’s stances. One cited an alliance with the center in the 1930s. “But Mitterrand, too! In ’71," chimed in another, looking for all the world as if she'd been there. Yet even these greying comrades wanted the old guard out, and with Aubry in, they felt frustrated. “The headquarters," said one, "smells like mothballs.”

Ségolène Royal Wins… Especially If She Loses.

Tracy McNicoll — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:30:57 GMT

photo: AFP

The French Socialist Party's search for a leader, already a long, long drama, has recently turned into a farce. For 18 months, ever since right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president, the Socialists have been so busy turning on each other that "Sarko," as he's called, has been able to act as if there's no opposition at all. And a vote by party members that was supposed to put an end to the backbiting last week only opened up a whole new round of bloodletting. The doggedly determined Martine Aubry, mother of the country's problematic 35-hour work week, declared victory Saturday after 134,000 ballots were counted. But her margin was a razor-thin 42 votes. So former presidential candidate Ségolène Royal is lobbying for a new round amid allegations of fraud, counter-charges of defamation and threatened court action. A party congress will pronounce on the results tonight, after two days of candidates’ representatives trading examples and counterexamples of accounting irregularities before a hastily assembled commission. And Royal might actually squeak ahead by a ballot or two. But, here's the thing: the biggest win for Ségolène Royal would be a loss.

Royal has never really been embraced by her party. At 55, she may have garnered the Socialist nomination for the 2007 presidential run, and borne four children to the outgoing Socialist Party leader, François Hollande. She may have been a second-string cabinet minister in Socialist governments through the 1990s and an advisor to France’s only Socialist president, François Mitterrand, through the 1980s. But none of that has been enough to make her an acceptable apparatchik in the eyes of her peers. Au contraire! She is derided – despised is not too strong a word – as an outsider. But she has learned to make that her greatest strength.

Considered at best a secondary figure in the party until 2006, Royal's bid for the presidential nomination seemed to come out of nowhere when she ran against two of the party's heavyweights. Former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius and former Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn (now head of the International Monetary Fund) openly mocked Royal’s chances -- then lost to her by humiliating margins. She went on to lead a campaign mostly outside the party’s ambit. It was headquartered, literally, outside the walls of the party's main building, drawing its strength from a massive internet-based campaign for direct “participative” democracy, which endeared her to the little people and but only stoked the ire of party veterans. Even party leader Hollande, Royal's consort, kept his distance from her, while their son Thomas campaigned with maman. (It was later revealed the couple had split secretly, and acrimoniously.) So the moment Royal lost to Sarkozy, by a 47-53 margin on May 6, 2007, the knives came out. Socialist heavyweights blamed Royal en masse. But as recent weeks have shown, much of the base stuck with her.

Royal surprised everyone on November 6 when her motion for the new Socialist Party platform secured the most votes from the party faithful. It won 29 percent support, with Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë's proposal second and Martine Aubry third. Party custom has it that the sponsors of the losing motions look for compromises to gather behind the winning motion, but Royal couldn’t find that consensus. At the disastrous party convention that followed, the aspiring leaders whose motions she beat couldn’t get together enough to join forces, but were decided not to let her take the party in the leadership vote that followed.

Royal promised “a big popular party.” She promised to break open the Socialists' clunky political apparatus, involve the base in key decision-making, proposing a sort of “Socialist Facebook” and referenda on new ideas. One of those, her belief that the Socialist Party should keep open the option of allying with both leftists and centrists to beat Sarkozy in 2012, was particularly controversial. Faced with Sarkozy's proven ability to co-opt the right, the middle and even some stars of the moderate left, like French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, the party hacks seem determined to cling to margins.

Royal, meanwhile, has adopted a fairly funky new image. She’s dropped the chic, white-jacket-and-skirt look that became her trademark during the presidential campaign and now favors colouful Indian-style tunics over jeans. At a September political rally she mixed politics with musical acts. Critics disparaged the show as “too American” and her speech as “too religious,” “too mystical,” when she chanted “Fra-ter-ni-té” over and over to 4,000 supporters. “When I talk about fraternity, some snicker, but when Barack Obama based his campaign on fraternity everybody was blissful with admiration,” she responded on French radio last week. “Well, people will get used to it. They’ll get used to my political identity. They’ll get used to me remaining myself to better change the Socialist Party.”

The winner – for now – meanwhile -- sort of is Martine Aubry, 58, who's quite popular in lefty apparatchik circles. The daughter of former European Commissioner Jacques Delors, she has headed more prestigious government ministries than Royal and has drawn support from politically disparate Socialist Party heavyweights like Fabius and allies of Strauss-Kahn, known as “les éléphants." Aubry warned members that Royal would turn the Socialist Party into a “party of fans” rather than one of activists. And she has ruled out, four years in advance, allying with the center in 2012, saying she would only entertain alliances with staunch leftists like the Communist Party. After the preliminary rounds last week, Aubry was supposed to collect everybody else's votes and beat Royal handily. But she didn’t.

For now, it would seem, the disparate front of party traditionalists overtly opposed to Royal could manage no more than 50.02 percent of the vote. Indeed, while leaked numbers vary, Royal’s second-in-command this morning alleged that the margin had narrowed… to only four votes. Tonight, the party’s national council will rule on the results. The council is in its majority hostile to Royal, who only has 29 percent of the members (in line with the percentage of votes she picked up November 6, with her winning party line). She has called for a new vote, while her camp has threatened demonstrations and even legal action if its electoral complaints aren’t heard. All of that risks prolonging the party’s agony while sounding whiny to public opinion.

But if Royal loses tonight, and calls off her dogs, she may well wind up ahead in the long term.

“Ségolène Royal doesn’t come out of this fight weakened, far from it,” says Zaki Laïdi of the Centre for European Studies in Paris. He argues that the close scores show, first and foremost, the failure of the party heavyweights’ strategy of Royal “containment.” “Very honestly, I never believed as much in Ségolène Royal’s political chances as I do today, because she’s shown a capacity to fight and to overcome obstacles. It shows that they’re having more and more trouble containing her. Every time you think she’s dead, she charges back.”

“If there is one lesson here, I think it’s that the rise in strength and the control of Ségolène Royal now is paradoxically inexorable,” concludes Laïdi.

“In any case, she wins,’ concurs Gérard Grunberg, of Paris’s Institute of Political Studies. “First, the rest are divided: all those against her are divided. Next, they will be on the defensive all the time, because they defend the old ideas. And third, I think she is very, very intelligent at appearing as the victim. She’ll develop the argument ‘The Socialists wanted change. Change was prevented.’ So I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes up in the polls more than Martine Aubry.” And while Royal is free to make her case, Aubry, of course, would be stuck putting the pieces back together at party headquarters. Royal would be able to claim as much favor with the party faithful as Aubry, but operate as she has in the past, as the outsider from the inside. She will have one foot in the party with her representation on the national council and one foot out. The leader’s term is only three years, meaning the job will be up for grabs again in plenty of time for the 2012 presidential campaign.

So as the Socialist Party’s “parliament” gets set to meet tonight to parse an impossibly close ballot and take the next step, the political advice to Royal seems clear: Protest, lady, but not too much. Not enough to get stuck winning.

(Photo by AFP/Miguel Medina)

France: The President Who Ate His Government

Newsweek — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:09:36 GMT

By Clare Premo

French President Nicolas Sarkozy can hardly be faulted for lack of leadership. He seems to be everywhere all the time -- in France, in Europe, and literally around the globe. But according to the cover of this week's Le Nouvel Observateur written by Assistant Editor in Chief Hervé Algalarrondo, there's cause for concern that Sarkozy may become the president who ate his own government, upsetting the balance of power and usurping all authority.

In France, the executive branch is made up of the president, the prime minister, and the various ministers of different departments. While the constitution specifies that this group as a whole should direct the nation’ s policies, Algalarrondo says it's increasingly apparent that the president is augmenting his power while the rest merely look on. Le Nouvel Observateur suggests that the “true” government is not comprised of the ministers with official titles, but of the close advisors, best friends, party members and a panel of experts that Sarkozy turns to if and when he wants advice.

For instance, it seems as if Prime Minister François Fillon is all but dispensable these days. Not only has the president taken over most of his traditional roles, he’s even gone as far as to claim the prime minister’s customary weekend home for himself. That merely symbolizes the general break in the balance of powers. Sarkozy has given himself the ability to assign dossiers and to take charge of important decisions, in effect downgrading Fillon to just another minister among many. Sarkozy doesn’t seem to think this is a problem for Fillon: “Why is he unhappy? He’s the prime minister!” the president was quoted saying last year. Indeed, to Algalarrondo, it seems that Sarkozy expects Fillon to be grateful for the title, rather than bitter that his duties are being systematically reduced. For now, Fillon’s remaining domain is the leadership of Parliament. But with recent Constitutional changes that begin to tread on this right, who knows how long this fragile balance can last? (And with the complete implosion of the Socialist Party over the weekend, there is now no effective opposition to Sarkozy at any level of government.)

Fillon’s not the only one feeling unwanted. The ministers of the different departments are experiencing a decline in power as well. Apparently writing the script for the prime minister is not enough for Sarkozy; he wants to be the producer, director, star -- and cinematographer and publicist -- for the entire show. While in theory, the ministers might be in charge of the economy, internal security, or justice, in practice, they hold a post comparable to a vice-minister, the interchangeable members of a supporting cast.

Algalarrondo believes that Sarkozy’s actions are creating a cabinet à l'americaine. In other words, the personal advisors and friends with whom he chooses to surround himself are more important than the official government members themselves. These “Sarko boys” have the unprecedented authority to make statements to the press, indicating that they are not merely voices on the periphery, but actively accepted as major policy advisors. Sarkozy prefers that they be older, ensuring that they aren’t a threat to his power. Four men, Claude Guéant, François Pérol, Raymond Soubie, and Patrick Ouart, are so intertwined in Sarkozy’s governing style that they have earned the nickname “The Four Musketeers”.

Is this an unconstitutional seizure of power or a natural evolution of government? One thing’s for sure: French politics will never be the same again.

A New Context for the Holocaust

Newsweek — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:04:42 GMT

By Michael Levitin

With far-right anti-immigrant parties strengthening in Austria, and growing opposition to the mosques and minarets shooting up from Berlin to Cologne, xenophobia is in the air in Europe. Pending job losses from the financial fallout may soon make matters worse. That’s why, when violinist Daniel Hope got the idea of hosting a 70th anniversary concert for Kristallnacht in Berlin, he wanted it to be more than a remembrance of the Holocaust and World War II. “It’s also about now, about violence against foreigners and any kind of racism,” he said. “We’re at a time, in an unstable atmosphere, where we can’t afford to be looking away and watching again.”

“Tu Was!”, or “Do Something!”, which takes place Nov. 9 at the recently closed Tempelhof Airport of Nazi pride and Berlin Airlift fame, pays homage to the infamous Night of Broken Glass in 1938 when Nazis destroyed thousands of Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues, and deported 30,000 to concentration camps, in a prelude to the Holocaust. Joining the Emmy-nominated Hope—a South Africa-born, London-raised musician who studied under Yehudi Menuhin and won Britain’s 2004 Young Artist of the Year among other accolades—is a star-studded cast that includes legendary German actor Klaus Maria Brandauer (“Mephisto”), cabaret celebrity Max Raabe and the Beaux Arts Trio pianist Menahem Pressler, who himself witnessed Kristallnacht as a 15-year-old boy in Berlin. Blending music with readings, video and discussion, the multi-genre performance features songs by the so-called “Entarte” composers of the 1930s whom the Nazis deemed degenerate and subsequently destroyed.

In the current context of tensions over Europe’s Muslim population, the concert takes on an added significance. “Germany has accepted its role within this 20th century nightmare. Daniel is only able to do this concert because Germany is so open to examining its past,” said John Axelrod, the conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra who similarly played a concert at Auschwitz last year to raise awareness about the risks of racism and xenophobia. “It’s not just about Jews and Germans. It’s about Jews and Arabs. Americans and Arabs. Germans and Muslims. Americans and Russians. Music has a humanitarian purpose; it has the ability to resonate in the souls of all people regardless of culture, language or borders,” he added.

The concert, which boasts an eclectic range of jazz, rock, classical and other genres, may mark a turning point for German-Jewish relations. That, at least, is what Hope hopes. But for the grandson of German Jews who fled Berlin before the war, most important is that it serves as “a catalyst to jumpstart people’s feelings so they start thinking, start acting, so that they don't sit by ever again and watch while unacceptable things happen.” 70 years after Kristallnacht, with tensions mounting between Europe and its Muslims, Berlin is the ideal venue for this show. It is the place where it all began.

To Russia, U.S. Election Was Like a Soap Opera

Newsweek — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:02:25 GMT

By Anna Nemtsova

Russians show a big interest in the American elections. Echo of Moscow radio covered only the U.S. elections last night, inviting politicians, think tankers and opposition activists to their night talk show to answer phone calls and comment on the election results. At 10 pm, 78.1 percent of callers wanted to see Obama as next American president.

Mikhail Delyagin, the head of Institute of Problems of Globalization, explained such the public interest: "We do no not have elections in Russia any longer. Everybody understands here that it would be impossible for them to actually elect the president. To vote for deputies in parliament would be useless as well, as they are practically appointed. So Russians watch the American election as an interesting, thrilling film about someone's life."

A public opinion poll by the Levada Center on November 1 showed 27 percent of Russians would like to see Obama as America's president, 15 percent McCain, 29 percent said neither of them and 29 percent said they found it difficult to answer the question.

Garry Kasparov, the leader of the Other Russia opposition coalition, said that Obama symbolizes a change: "American voters chose to have the change. The fact that a Democrat, Obama, might not be too strict in foreign policy issues or security issues, especially now, when America is at war with terror, could have played against Obama. But nothing worked against him."

Irina Khakamada, a former leader of Union of Right Forces democrat party and parliament deputy speaker told Newsweek: "The Kremlin is happy Obama won. McCain was seen as an old opponent, while Obama is a clean page for the Kremlin. At least there is no burden of negative past experience – that is good for Russian – American relations."

Mikhail Margelov, Chairman of the Committee of Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council, said in a phone interview that Russian political elite does have high hopes for Obama: "American people have chosen to make a change. We welcome the new leader and have hopes that by change the new leadership means not pragmatic and ideologically charged, but fare relations with modern Russia; we hope that from selective cooperation our relations can develop into equal partnership." Margelov said in a phone interview.

Sergey Markov, Duma deputy said to Newsweek: "The Russian political elite is against the neo-conservative Bush government and we would not be surprised to see some of them, like Mr. Chaney, on trial some time soon. America is a great nation; this time, like many times in past history, American nation showed an example of how to make changes and give the world hope. Americans can be capable of electing a black president, despite the racial issues they had not so long ago, in the 70's. We count on strategic partnership with the United States, as we have many common interests. For that American politicians should say goodbye to imperialistic positions of influence in the world, and stop making ridiculous statements like 'Russian influence is limited by its boarders.'"

President Medvedev said in his annual address to nation: "We hope that our partners - the new U.S. administration - will make a choice in favor of a full-fledged relationship with Russia." And: "Progress in Russian-American cooperation would be key." … "It is not a secret that a large number of countries, acting by inertia, tend to look back on where the wind blows in Russia's relations with the United States. It is true that these relations are not going through the easiest period today."… "We also have a large number of questions, including those of a moral nature," the Russian president said. "But I would like to stress that we have no problems with the American people. We have no inherent anti-Americanism," he said.

Sergey Bobovnikov, 42, an antiques dealer: "I am concerned about our dollars. If Obama really withdraws the American army from Iraq as he promised, the dollar will grow immediately weak, as oil production in Iraq will stop being secured. I foresee big problems to follow this victory."

Marina Goichneko, 48, an opera singer: "Medvedev just said he would change our constitution nd extend his term to six years. That is not fair; just like our election. I like the American election, it looks like it is real. I am surprised Americans managed to overcome the issue of skin color. Even for mericans it is very brave. Russians would not be able to make such choice any time soon."

Konstantin Nefyodov, 80, a pensioner. "I believe our newspapers. They say Obama is better than McCain because he does not hate Russians so much. Of course I like him better for that. He has a kind face. I am happy they elected Obama."

Nadezhda Tarasenko, 23, a student, studies state management: "I would not make quick judgments. One thing is what Obama said before the elections, and another what his actions will show. Especially I am concerned about the way he is going to treat Russia. Lets wait and see."

What the World Thinks of Barack Hussein Obama

Newsweek — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:24:09 GMT

By Barrett Sheridan and Fred Guterl

The most common reaction across the world to Barack Obama’s Tuesday night victory was a simple one: “Thank you.” It was a sentiment directed not at the president-elect himself, but at the American people. Having felt abandoned by the United States for so long, and especially after the 2004 reelection of George W. Bush, people across the world saw Obama’s victory as an affirmation that yes, America still does represent something special. Nelson Mandela, in a congratulatory letter to Obama, perhaps summed it up best: “Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place.” It was also a good excuse to celebrate. Kenya, the home of Obama’s father, declared a national holiday, and Brazilians proclaimed a new era of "esperanza". The few disappointed by the final tally—a dour-looking Tory in London, some security-conscious Israelis—did little to dampen the global celebration.

Parisians reacted with enthusiasm and relief to the news, some of them turning on a dime to become Amero-philes. The French newspapers, after 8 years of George W. Bush, might perhaps be forgiven for getting a little tipsy on Obama. Obama fervor reached South Asia, too, although the candidate's promise to follow terrorists into Pakistan with or without Islamabad's approval cooled the excitement of some there. In Iraq, everyday citizens have their doubts about what Obama means for peace in the country, but politicians agree that he is "presidential material." South Koreans struck a balance between pessimism and optimism; they worry over the future of a pending free trade deal with the U.S., but are encouraged by Obama's attitude towards negotiations with the pariah state to their north. In Japan, Obama's victory served to remind some voters of stagnation in their own domestic politics.

Our team of foreign correspondents has cavassed the globe for the morning-after reaction to this historic election. The event was cause for celebration and contemplation in London, Paris, Jerusalem, Seoul, Durban, Lahore, Baghdad, Tokyo, Russia and Rio.

Britain: Rule Obama

Rod Nordland — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:37:05 GMT

London - The hot ticket in London last night was the Election Night party at the American embassy, and there was plenty of competition elsewhere, with festivities at pubs, clubs and restaurants, especially ones with an American theme in a town with 250,000 expats. Some 1,500 guests packed into the crowded chancery on Grosvenor Square. The embassy staged a determinedly bipartisan affair, but efforts to divide the crowd into Republicans Abroad and Democrats Abroad—both groups are active in Britain—were swamped by a preponderance of Obama followers.

There was plenty of Americana on display, and no small amount of kitsch. Once past the concrete bomb barriers, guests were greeted with a group of cheerleaders doing acrobatics and assembling human pyramids; they were the called the Eagles, and actually hailed from East London. Inside, wine was dispensed at half a dozen bars and by squads of waiters who oozed through the crowd. Cartloads of Budweiser were rolled in and before long the well-lubricated crowd was making such a din that it was impossible to hear most of the many plasma TV monitors placed throughout three floors. One lady worked the crowd dressed as the Statue of Liberty, and a young man with a carefully trimmed Mohawk had an American flag painted on the right side of his head. A “barbershop choir” of a couple dozen ladies—traditionally embassy and American military wives, but nowadays mostly Brits—sang bravely but hardly a note could be heard. In the basement, a folk rock band, also British, sang Bob Dylan numbers, and between songs made rude remarks about George Bush and Dick Cheney. At the opposite end of the room, Burger King was tossing Whoppers into the crowd faster than anyone could eat them, and Subway so many sandwiches ready there wasn't even a queue.

Even after nearly eight years of a Republican administration, the embassy crowd seemed overwhelmingly pro-Obama, and guests, even more so. When very early returns from red states gave McCain a temporary lead in projected electoral votes, there was hardly any reaction, but when more substantial returns started trickling in after two in the morning Greenwich Mean Time—mostly discerned by reading the screens rather than listening to them—there were repeated bursts of loud cheering. At the Republican party’s table, they couldn’t give away the pile of McCain Palin buttons; at the Democratic one, they hid Obama buttons out of sight and doled them out to bona fide Americans and Democrats. “And don’t put it in your pocket, you have to wear it,” one of the ladies scolded a recipient. Ambassador Robert Tuttle, a political appointee who previously was a Republican car dealer and major contributor to President Bush, made an early appearance. "People have seen democracy at its most raw. I always thought the most exciting election in my life would be Kennedy-Nixon, but this one has eclipsed it.” He left early though, and when serious returns started pouring in by three in the morning, the crowd thinned out, McCain followers going home subdued, and Obama ones hanging in until well after four a.m., by which time the Starbucks barristas with backpack coffee dispensers had packed up and left.

The Tory shadow defense minister, Gerald Howarth, sported a McCain button and a disappointed demeanor, tired of hearing all this empty talk about change, as he put it. It was, clearly, a minority view. A lot of people posed to have their pictures taken with the life-sized cutout of Sarah Palin, mostly mocking her or making rude gestures. There was no such disrespect shown by those posing with Obama’s cutout, and no one paid much attention at all to John McCain.

See the full round-up of the world's reaction to the election of Barack Obama.

Russia's Financial Crisis Undermines Putin

Newsweek — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:45:16 GMT

By Owen Matthews and Anna Nemtsova

The credit crisis now looks like it's going to hit banks and ordinary Russians hard--and it may strain Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's hold on power.

Russia’s retail banking system is grinding slowly to a halt. Even Central Bank Chairman Sergei Ignatyev expects at least 70 Russian banks to go under. The larger-than-ever Russian middle class is feeling the credit crunch. Veronika Ponomareva, head of sales at the Moscow-based Calipso travel agency, says that she needed to make a quarterly transfer of $300,000 to the International Air Transport Association last week – but her bank told her they couldn’t draw on her account because of a lack of liquidity. “Too many people were withdrawing all their money, so the bank just didn’t have our money,” she says. “We had to run to our friends and borrow eight million rubles.” And Vladimir Ivanov, head of a small construction company in Nizhny Novgorod, complains that he cannot pay for materials because his bank needs at least a week to make a transfer. “Our leaders say they are pouring money in to stabilize the banking system,” he says. “But we do not feel it here. There must be someone in the middle using the situation in their favor."

President Dmitry Medvedev tried to put a good face on the situation this weekend when we went on television to assure viewers that the “world financial crisis” could actually be an opportunity for companies to “improve management structures" and improve “effectiveness and productivity.” Of course, Russia's $150 billion in oil windfalls and a further $480 billion in foreign currency reserves are enough to prevent the ruble from crashing, as it did in August 1998. Some banks will be bailed out – but inevitably, there won’t be enough money to save everyone.

That will put a severe strain on the consensus that Putin built up with Russia’s elite over his years in power – a consensus based on the principle that everyone would be allowed to get filthy rich as long as they kicked back to the right bureaucrats and stayed out of politics. "Suppressing pockets of panic with promises of presidential aid, Medvedev aims primarily at projecting the message that the system of power is rock solid and can sustain any storms blowing from outside,” says Pavel Bayev, senior researcher at Norway's International Peace Research Institute. “Undeserved rewards and instant gratification have been the fundamental values of the elite consensus, and they are gone for good.” Putinism, he says, is in for a “hard landing.”

Death of a Gay, Right-Wing Zealot

Newsweek — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:37:50 GMT

By Stefan Theil

Berlin -The death on October 11 of Austrian right-wing politician Jörg Haider was not only dramatic – he ran his Volkswagen Phaeton off the road at 142 kilometers an hour while drunk as a skunk – but also high drama. Late last week, Haider's protégé and designated successor as chairman of the Alliance for Austria's Future party, Stefan Petzner, effectively outed himself as Haider's lover in a series of tearful television and radio interviews. Witnesses reported Haider, 58, and Petzner, 27, quarreling at a reception, after which Haider drove to a local gay watering hole for a bout of drinking.

Haider's homosexuality seems to demonstrate the banal truth that anyone can be gay, even unsavoury right-wing types. What it doesn't fit is the model of the deeply closeted gay man so at war with his desires that he crusades against gays in public-- like notorious McCarthy-era prosecutor Roy Cohn, or the anti-gay evangelist Ted Haggard, who, after a scandal involving a male prostitute, said: "There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life."Judging by Petzer's grief and statements last week, he and Haider had carried on an intense relationship. Haider didn't seem to be fighting his nature all that hard. On gay rights, Haider's party has been more liberal than Austria's mainstream conservatives.

Stranger, however, was the way the incident was treated in the Austrian press and public. On the one hand, Haider's stop at the gay bar on the night of his death got wide coverage, as did paparazzi photos showing him in the company of young men in the past. "I doubt it would be treated as such a notorious scandal if he had spent his last night getting drunk with a woman," says Robert Kastl, the Austrian director of Publicom, a PR agency focused on gay-community marketing. On the other hand, says Kastl, the Austrian media all but ignored the fact that Haider left behind a grieving widower, just as they had ignored attempts to out Haider as gay in the past. One daily meekly mentioned Haider's "homophile tendencies." Faced with a grieving widow, would the same paper downplay and degrade the dead man's relationship as "heterophile tendencies"? Haider and Petzner were a couple. Period.

Haider's supporters denounced the reports as attemps to "defame" their hero's legacy. Others defended Haider's "right to privacy." All this smacks of double standards and more than a little hypocrisy. Few people speak of the need to keep the existence of politicians' heterosexual relationships or marriages protected by privacy, nor are they generally considered defamatory. No wonder Austria is one of the last countries in Western Europe where no leading politician dares to be openly gay.

What the Vienna-based gay-rights organization Homosexual Initiative said after the German daily Tageszeitung first outed Haider in 2000 seems as appropriate today as it was then: "There are many reasons to fight Haider and his politics. Homosexuality is not one of them."

Fear and Loathing in Moscow

Newsweek — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:39:36 GMT

By Anna Nemtsova

Moscow, Russia -- As the financial crisis deepens, the Russian government has been amplifying its anti-American stance, and Robert Schlegel, the youngest deputy in the Russian Duma, is leading those efforts on the streets. On a recent day, Schlegel was standing along the Garden Ring avenue in Moscow, across from the U.S. Embassy, looking for a convenient place to set up a video screen. The screen will come in handy during the anti-American protest that Schlegel, in cooperation with the Nashi, a militantly pro-Kremlin youth group, will hold there on Nov. 1. He expects 15,000 young Russians to show up in Halloween costumes, holding pumpkins and candles and shouting slogans like "Stop your Big American Show!" and "Revolution Now!"

Schlegel lived most of his life in authoritarian Turkmenistan. A former activist for the Nashi, Schlegel is best known for organizing street protests and pranks targeting Putin's few domestic critics. Now he drives an Alfa Romeo, wears an expensive coat and goes on business trips to London and Germany. In other words, people like him are no longer marginal. In his role as a Duma deputy, Schlegel is responsible for Moscow's “information policy.” He’s founded a government-supported television channel for youth, BL (which stands for “Beautiful Life”), which has produced a video for the protest.

The video has high production values and makes a good effort to rile up viewers. It features a computer-generated cartoon of President Bush, who wears cowboy gear, slurps whiskey and revels in American power. At one point, the cartoon Bush says, "I control the world's oil, economy, wars, culture, science and information. I will tell you how we achieved that. I call it ‘A Big American Show.’” Graphic images of World War I, Nazi Germany, the Vietnam War, and September 11 set the tone. As Schlegel says, “The American Empire Show, as we call it, is threatening Russia's stability. We young Russians have to put an end to it.”

And young Russian are heeding the call. As Russia grows richer and nationalism grows, the size of pro-Kremlin patriot youth movements crescendos. Nashi involves at least 200,000 activists. The Youth Guards have another 100,000 activists. The New People and Young Russia each attract tens of thousands of young patriots.

But of all youth movements, Stal, or Steel, a Nashi submovement, most fully reflects the new nationalism fostered by Vladimir Putin. “We are going to change the world from knowing nothing about Russia to respecting and even recognizing Russia as a new fashion,” says Nadezhda Tarasenko, 23, the leader of Stal. “It is important to consolidate around our leader, so nobody inside or outside the country can damage our stability and unity. One thousand activists in my movement are not afraid of using tough methods to stop America's influence on Russia.”

'Stop Worrying: There Is No God'

Newsweek — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:17:20 GMT

By Joanna Heath

The battle between atheism and religion is breaching some unlikely ground in Britain: the iconic London bus. On October 21, the Atheist Bus Campaign announced a drive to raise funds for two weeks of advertisements on the capital's red buses, bearing the slogan: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." The campaign was conceived as a response to advertisements on London transport by jesussaid.org, which reminds that non-believers will "spend all eternity in torment in hell."

The Campaign has the support of Richard Dawkins, best-selling author of the controversial book "The God Delusion," which, when it was published in 2006, sparked fierce debate in Britain, where only a minority of political party leaders are committed churchgoers, and 20 percent of the population do not believe in God. If the bus advertisements are successfully rolled out in January, the argument is likely to heat up again. For now, the religious community is mixed in its response. The Methodist church thanked Dawkins for encouraging a "continued interest in God." Fundamentalist lobby group Christian Voice knowingly suggested that the ads would be "just the right height" for graffiti.

How the World Sees Sarah Palin

Barrett Sheridan — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:35:24 GMT

Sarah Palin may not have much experience with the rest of the world—she didn’t even hold a passport until well after her 40th birthday—but the rest of the world has had enough experience with her to know exactly what it thinks. Those thoughts range from mild bemusement to borderline horror. Much of the world, especially in Europe, has spent the last four years counting down the days until President Bush’s final hours in office, and for them, Palin’s folksy ways carry too many echoes of the sitting president. That sentiment doesn't rule out the possibility of a little satirical fun at Palin's expense, of course.

Take Italy, for example. Ironically for a temperate nation that borders on the Mediterranean, the Italians take special offense at Palin’s stance on polar bears. (As governor, she sued the U.S. Interior Department for listing the polar bear as a threatened species.) “Polar bear killer” is second only to “pitbull” as the nation’s preferred nickname for Palin. Greenreport.it, a web site for Italian environmentalists, started a petition against her, citing her views on polar bears.

But the Italians know how to embrace the lighter side of politics--a talent they honed during years of living under President Silvio Berlusconi, a garish media mogul prone to spectacular gaffes. Paola Cortellesi, the Italian Tina Fey, has followed in the footsteps of her stateside counterpart and launched satirical broadsides against the Palin phenomenon. In one, the faux-Palin smiles and fires a shotgun at the audience. “Sarah Palin is a spectacle,” Cortellesi has said in response to why she chose the American vice-presidential candidate as her latest victim. “The hair, the glasses—and she loves sub-machine guns.”

In France, no need to find a Gallic Fey—they import the real thing. The first Tina Fey parodies hit the net with French subtitles soon after their American debut, leaving viewers with the unique problem of trying to translate “boner-shrinker.” But others in the country take the task of Palin-bashing very seriously. French media outlets have sent reporters to Alaska to glean Wasilla color up close. Le Figaro, the popular daily, said of its foray into “Sarah Palin country” that it wanted to portray the reality of a land in which “the fact that Sarah Palin knows how to slaughter and carve up a moose in no way posed a disadvantage to her electoral chances.”

That doesn’t mean they’re sympathetic, of course. Even French right-wingers feel uneasy about the prospect of a Vice-President Palin. Nadine Morano, who currently serves as State Secretary for Families and is a member of the right-wing UMP party, admits that “she has talent, but on sex education, abortion or the gun lobby, she has convictions that are more than conservative.” Morano added, “I’m as attached to the family as she is, but I don’t have the same vision. That’s the least I can say.”

The sober-minded Brits find a perverse appeal in her plain-spoken ways. "She could never exist in the British political system," says London Times columnist and former political satirist Alice Miles. "Or we don't think she could. We're all men in suits saying very, very safe things." Her exoticism has obsessed many, including tennis coach Jack Garvey, who admits to staying up until two a.m. to catch the vice-presidential debate last week. "I found myself shouting at the screen, imploring someone to push her on a few issues," he says. "But everyone was too polite to challenge her. The idea of her facing off against Putin or being in any way near power is just frightening." Even her fashion choices offend the Isles; the Guardian dedicated an entire column to her Alaska-shaped earrings, which, "with terrifying literal-mindedness...express everything we need to know about her pride in her roots and her people."

Across the Atlantic, optimistic Republicans might have hoped for a bit of favorable coverage in Brazil, where evangelical Christians are the fastest-growing religious group. No luck. Palin's been lampooned in cartoons there, and Sergio Augusto, a columnist for the daily newspaper, O Estado de Sao Paulo, joked that "judging by appearances alone, [Palin] could have swapped politics for synchronized swimming or been singing covers of 'Pink Shoelaces.'" Win or lose, Palin should exercise sound judgment in determining how best to make use of her new passport.

With reporting from Barbie Nadeau in Italy, Tracy McNicoll in Paris, Sophie Grove in London and Mac Margolis in Brazil

Photo: Associated Press