Report from Russia

Report from the New Dartmouth Conference
Moscow, Russia
September 20-24, 2004
Filed by: Taylor L. Willingham

We just completed the second New Dartmouth Conference - our first New Dartmouth meeting in Russia. The U.S. delegation included:
· Dr, David Mathews (President of the Kettering Foundation)
· Brian Cobb (Treasurer and U.S. Russia Project Director, Kettering Foundation)
· Hal Saunders (Director International Institute for Sustained Dialogue and former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs)
· Phil Stewart (Former Executive Director of the Dartmouth Conference)
· Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jim Collins
· Senator Les Ihara, Jr. (HI)
· Former Senator Scott Clemons (FL)
· Jim Thomas (former KF board member)
· Bill Walker (Alabama businessman)
· Melinda Gilmore (Editor, Kettering Foundation)

Our Russian colleagues included:
· Dr. Ektarina Genieva (Director of the All Russia Library for Foreign Literature)
· Svetlana Gorokhova (All Russia Library for Foreign Literature and former Kettering Fellow)
· Igor Nagdasev (Founder of the Russian Center for Civic Education, Former Kettering Fellow)
· Irina Mirnaya (Project Manager, Russian Center for Civic Education)
· Denis Makarov (Professor of Political Science, Foundation for Development of Civic Culture, former Kettering Fellow)
· Evgeny Bunimovich (Member of Moscow City Duma, Chair of the Moscow Duma Committee on Education.)
· Sergey Markov (Director, Institute of Political Research)
· Dr. Leontij Zbailov (Dean, Dept, of Political Science and Sociology at the Moscow State Pedagogical University.)
· Anton Lopukhin, Executive Director of the Association of Young Leaders

Throughout the meetings, beginning with the opening remarks, it was clear that a number of recent events were foremost in the minds of the participants. Perhaps the largest issue overshadowing the meetings was the recent terrorist attack on the school at Breslan. In his opening remarks, Moscow City Duma Deputy Evgeny Bunimovich who is the Chair of the Moscow Committee on Education and Honorary teacher of Russia spoke passionately of the damage that this event has done by striking at one of its most public institutions, during one of the country’s most honored community building traditions (first day of school), and striking at the country’s most vulnerable members – its future citizens. He continued with a heartbreaking description of the children of Chechnya who grow up with guns instead of books and are the lost generation. His remarks were a sober and humbling reminder of the important work before us.

The morning continued with a report (including video footage) from both the U.S. and the Russians on the forums held over the past several months. Each country convened forums using the initial frameworks from the first phase of our work together, but these follow-up forums included video excerpts from the forums being held in the other country. In other words, Americans deliberated our relationship with Russia AFTER they saw a video of Russians deliberating about their hopes and concerns for a future relationship with the U.S. while Russians deliberated after viewing excerpts from a U.S. forum. The findings of these forums will be documented in a forthcoming book chapter co-authored by Denis Makarov and Phil Stewart.

The overwhelming common theme from both sides was that citizens make a clear distinction between the “human” aspect of the relationship and the political aspects – drawing a line between governments and people. Russians initially saw the relationship as the competence of the government, but shifted to an emphasis on citizen to citizen interactions after deliberating. U.S. citizens were equally as emphatic about the need for citizens to interact with each other through exchange programs.

There is still fear and distrust between the two countries, but for very different reasons. As Hal Saunders noted in his synopsis, Americans fear anything that clashes with what they believe. Thus, any move Russia makes away from its current democratic path, will likely pose a serious concern to Americans. In contrast, Russia’s concern about the U.S. is a response to the aggressive stance of the U.S. in the world. They noted that America’s actions in particular situations – Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq - contradicts its proclaimed aims: fighting terrorism and supporting democracy.

One final theme is related to each country’s identity. Many Russians long for a return to the day when they were superpower, but are torn as to how to achieve this objective. Furthermore, they are concerned about the influx of western culture (particularly the U.S. pop media).


Throughout the remainder of the New Dartmouth conference, we were treated to a number of speeches and a meeting with members of the Duma. We attended a reception and concert at the U.S. Embassy featuring Andrey Makarevich and the Creole Tango band. Makarevich has been described as the Russian Paul McCartney, but based on his eclectic rhythms, exotic arrangements, and multi-ethnic sounds, he defies comparison with any single musician. We were treated to a gamut of musical styles ranging from swing, foxtrot, Dixieland, ballads, Latino, waltz, and even a Russian rendition of a popular 50’s tune that we all knew, but none of us could name! Rather than purchasing yet another blue and white porcelain serving dish, a matrushka doll, or a carved wooden box, I opted for half a dozen CDs (including three Makarevich’s) and three English Language subtitled Russian videos.

Also at the concert at the embassy were three U.S. Congressmen (including Representative Michael Burgess, 26th district, TX) who were there to extend U.S. sympathies to our Russian colleagues over the Breslan tragedy. I briefly met with Representative Burgess about Texas Forums and the New Dartmouth and will follow up with his staff at a later date.

The Deputy Director of the Moscow Duma hosted us for a tour of the old and the new Duma offices. We had a meeting with the Director of the Duma who also hosted us for lunch. These meetings were covered by the local press and according to Svetlana, our briefing in Moscow Duma was broadcasted on the Stoliza (Capital) TV channel and the notes have been transcribed and are being translated into English. In addition to this television coverage, New Dartmouth was also a subject of two radio interviews – one with Dr. Mathews and Denis Makarov, and another interview that also included Svetlana and Senator Les Ihara,Jr. We also met with two other members of the Moscow Duma – Vera Stepananko who is in charge of environmental issues and Evgeny Bunimovich, a member of the New Dartmouth Russian delegation.

Of course, foremost in our minds during these meetings was the recent announcement by President Putin that he would eliminate district elections that now fill half of the 450 seats in the Duma and instead would appoint these positions based on Moscow-based party lists. Members of our delegation were passing around the Sunday NY Times article (September 19, 2004 “Week in Review” section) on the plane going to Russia and throughout our visit, we received daily updates on the political responses in the Moscow Times. As reported in the Moscow Times, the response in Russia has been mixed. Those in favor cite this move as a demonstration of political will while the staunchest critics see this as a return to “czarist times” (The Moscow Times). According to one liberal member of Parliament, governors who question these policies understand that they will be subject to criminal investigation and states that fear keeps more from challenging Kremlin policies. In interviews with two of the U.S. Congressmen (including Michael Burgess) said in interviews that Putin’s plans deserve criticism and that Putin’s statements after Brelsan “could lead to a situation when our relations will become as bad as they were before.”

The NY Times reported that Putin’s move is probably just a formalization of the Kremlin’s already immense sway over regional leaders. On the day that we departed, the Moscow Times (September 24-26 Weekend www.themoscowtimes.com) reported that ten governors signed up for the Kremlin-backed United Russia Party and another 20 are prepared to join ranks continuing a trend that began more than a year after the Kremlin made it clear that regional leaders would need its blessing in order to win elections.

Interestingly, this type of move by Russian leadership is exactly what many Americans were concerned about in our deliberations. American’s see open elections in Russia as a critical criteria for expanding our friendly terms with Russia. While it is not the job of New Dartmouth to tell either country how it should operate, it is our responsibility to report the honest concerns and hopes for future relationship expressed by the citizens in our forums. We fulfilled our obligation.

One particular highlight of our trip was a visit by young people active in the Association of Young Leaders - an interregional non-profit, student-led organization of students and adults working collaboratively to help student leaders develop the understanding, skills and experience they need to positively impact their schools, their communities and their future. They are modeled after the California Association of Student Councils. They represent a new generation of business, political leaders who will be poised to introduce a deliberative practice to the decision-making they will be making as future business leaders, policy-makers, and parents. The Kettering Foundation has a particular interest in studying the perspectives of youth in each country toward policy-making and in ways to foster this interest within each country and between the youth of the two countries.

All in all, it was a productive and engaging meeting. Next steps are still to be developed. We will be exploring opportunities to study youth leadership in the two countries and the link between leadership, political office and policy-makers. We will also be looking at how we can continue and expand citizen-to-citizen dialogues and make their deliberative voices known to policy-makers. We have a book in production that includes a chapter co-authored by the Russian and American delegation, a review of the accomplishments of the old Dartmouth written by a member of the Russia team who is a trusted advisor to the Kremlin authorities, and a chapter by former Ambassador Jim Collins.

Clearly the old Dartmouth has not outlived its purpose; the New Dartmouth is just as vital in defining our relationship with Russia and in keeping the dialogue open.

Taylor