I consider the following article exemplary of the Russian people's feel of the love and concern for their families first and the democratization of their country second. It seems apparent that globalization has replaced the Cold War and I would suggest that, third, there is also a Russian people's feel of the love and concern of globalization as aid from Norway and Britian enter the scene of the Kursk tragedy. What was missing between the Russian government and the Russian people in the early days of the Kursk tragedy were the five operatives of Dr. Gerry Brady's "A Global Project for Personal Responsibility" ( bridgetothefuture.org ): calmness, knowledge, compassion, respect and commitment. Read this article and see where these operatives could have applied in a cooperative context. The world can pull together when it wants to. The same operatives work in open and mediated peace processes - peacebuilding that takes a peace that which is simply kept to that which is proactive and lasting.

Philip "Rick" Henika

San Francisco Examiner
Sunday, August 20, 2000
"Tragedy teaches former soviets openness lesson
Russian public will no longer accept Chernobyl-era secrecy"
By Maura Reynolds
Los Angeles Times
Moscow -

"If Russia's military command has learned nothing else from the Kursk disaster, it has learned this - Secrecy backfires.

And, if President Vladimir Putin and Russia's political leadership have learned nothing else, they have learned this: Appearances matter.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the ongoing drama over the fate of the 118 sailors trapped aboard the sunken nuclear submarine is not the apparent slowness in launching a rescue operation, the delay in requesting foreign assistance or the failure of the president to take charge of the situation - or even to end his vacation.

The most remarkable aspect, rather, may be that the Russian people became enraged and demanded a better preformance and higher accountability.

And they got it.

"It's bad that the instinct (for secrecy) took so long to suppress," said Vladimir Lukin, deputy chair of the Duma, the lower house of the Parliament. "But it was good that it was overcome as well."

Indeed, in mnay ways, the Kursk disaster has been an object lesson in democracy for this country and its leadership.

Consider how different the situation was during the country's last nuclear disaster: the 1986 explosion of the Chernobyl power plant in the Ukraine. Even though the policy of "glasnost" or "openness" was already under way, Soviet leaders kept silent about the accident for three days, until they were forced to respond to an outcry from the West.

This time, the outcry came from inside the country. It was the main topic of conversation from kitchens to taxi cabs to bus stops.

'They Wasted Days'

"What a disgrace," fumed Vladimir Starodubtsov, a 48-year-old mechanic. "They wasted days with their rescue capsules, and only then did they ask for help. They should have used all available means simultaneously from the very start. I just can't explain why they acted this way. I'd like to call the military leadership myself and ask them."

Even former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader who tried to keep Chernobyl under wraps, joined the chorus. Putin "should have gone to the scene and launched the (rescue) operation and made the decision whether or not to permit the participation of our foreign partners," Gorbachev said in a radio interview.

It remained unclear Saturday why the military toke so long to acknowledge the submarine accident, which occurred a week earlier but went unreported until Monday. Even then, naval spokesmen used strange euphemisms: Instead of saying it had sunk, the news service said only that "malfunctions occurred on the ship, as a result of which the submarine had to lie down on the ground."

Moreover, officials repeatedly provided incorrect or misleading information. First,they said the accident occurred Sunday; then they were forced to acknowledge it toke place a day earlier. They said they were communicating with the crew; they had to acknowledge the communications consisted only of knocking sounds. They said they had established an air channel to the disabled sub; it turned out their diving vessels couldn't even get close enough to dock.

Such euphemisms and half-truths ensured that when the full truth came out, public indignation would be higher and it was.

"The lies about the Kursk tragedy are drowning the reputation of the military," wrote the normally staid Ivestia. "These information games are becoming deadly. That is, for the crew of the Kursk."

Anger At Putin

Putin has not escaped the blast of public anger. He kept silent about the accident for five days remaining on vacation in the southern Russian resort of Sochi. Perhaps, as he claimed later, he did not want to interfer in the rescue operation. But many Russians saw it differently.

"I don't think it was political naivete'," said Lika Ionova, a doctor working in the a central Moscow health club. "I think he just didn't want to take responsibility."

Finally Taking Heed

By the end of last week, it was clear the criticism had hit home. The military was holding news breifings. Admirals were giving television interviews describing the damage in excrutiating technical detail. Naval officials were letting a TV crew film the rescue attempts. Putin was back in the Kremlin and was preparing to travel to the scene.

However unprecedented for Russia, all of that is a long way from levels of openness and accountability common in most Western democracies. It will probably take months - if not longer - to learn the truth of what the navy knew when and to judge whether officials really did everything possible to save the crew.

And it will probably also take Putin a while to learn what he did was wrong. His instincts appear to be more of a Soviet official following procedure than a Western-style president demonstrating leadership.

Still, if there is a silver-lining to the Kursk tragedy, it may be that, however imperfectly and however painfully, it presented the country and its leadership with a chance to learn at least a few lessons in democracy."