Step(pe) by Step(pe): Kazakhstan’s Reach for Regional Dominance

By Ivelina Georgieva, ‘10

Kazakhstan is a country defined by the complex dynamics of Central Asia, a region that proves how impossible it is to not be fascinated by its politics, culture and history.  From the 19th-century Great Game between Great Britain and Russia, to the decades of Imperial Russia, to the years of Russification and Stalin’s carving out of the region, and finally to the 1991 independence of the republics, Kazakhstan is a product of Central Asia’s rich history.  Kazakhstan the world’s 9th largest country, is particularly important, not only because of its gigantic oil and gas reserves, but also because of its ambitions to become a regional leader in close alliance with Russia.

I developed my interest in the region during an extensive research project on Russian politics with Professor Caldwell and Professor Richmond. Exploring the Russian and Eurasian information space turned into an obsession. Before my trip to Kazakhstan, I had never been to a Muslim country except for a couple short trips to the touristy parts of Turkey. At the time, I felt rather ignorant sitting at the classroom and discussing human rights and Islam, for instance, without having seen, heard or felt the religion’s impact on society myself.

My expectations were shattered only a few hours after my arrival in Kazakhstan. This is not to say that taxi drivers didn’t rip me off  or that I didn’t see staggering poverty in the villages around Almaty. However, the overall spirit was of prosperity and good life. I was surprised to find a beautiful modern downtown sporting both relics of Soviet architecture and boutique names from all over the world. The supermarkets offered produce from all countries imaginable and all the local specialties including horse-meat delicacies, camel milk, and different types of caviar. Some malls even had ice-skating rinks and mini theme parks, all for exorbitant prices. The average yearly income in the country is estimated at $11,500, but and the luxury markets are booming. Professionals are driving the consumerism in Kazakhstan’s rapidly developing city centers.

Westernization, I hear some of the readers mutter. Economically yes, but not culturally. The government headed by Nursultan Nazarayev, a close partner of the Russians, is implementing a strong nationalistic program. The unmistakable Kazakh label is ubiquitous. It is on the architecture,  the environmental campaigns, the ads for credits and phone plans, on the infinite number of posters of Nazarbayev that keep a watchful eye on the passers-by. The West deems the latter’s policies dictatorial, especially in the wake of a lifelong presidency proposal recently, floated by an official from his party. However, a fast friend explained to me, “Some say our President is not a good ruler, but truth is he has done amazing work and people trust him. That’s why they chose to reelect him for a third mandate. They are worried about what will happen after he steps down.”

During my stay, I rarely heard opinions critical of the President. Consistently, the young people I met vowed their allegiance. I did not hear any reactions against the decision to control the Internet, either. It was taken in mid-June, officially for the purposes of detecting potential terrorist networking. Unofficially, it has been suggested, that it served to  limit the budding freedom of speech and expression. The majority of the publications propagate the official governmental stance and hail Kazakhstan’s expected role as a regional leader, focusing on uniting Eurasia.

According to projections, Kazakhstan’s center will be Astana, the futuristic fast-growing capital over which towers the Baiterek Tower. Astana is the President’s personal project and the two celebrate their birthday on the same day, the 6th of July. Its intense urban development kick-started in 1994 and was a part of the larger project to develop Kazakhstan’s steppes. Although most of the city still looks like construction grounds, the spirit is easy to capture: business. Astana is deemed the future business capital of Central Asia. My hosts in the city explained that the workday is 10 hours on average and people are too tired to think of fun or culture, “not that the capital has any to offer” the “administrators and businessmen (working) exclusively” in the city.

I stayed with the extended family of a Kazakh friend and had the opportunity to take a glimpse of the traditional Muslim ways for the first time. In Almaty, where exposed midriffs and punk outfits are common, and where I lived with a young, Burberry-clad Kazakh student, my mind registered the occasional hijab with passing interest. This is why a mere three steps into Asem’s house in Astana, having glimpsed the living room where eight bearded men in traditional clothes were dining, I froze. What was I supposed to do? Greet every one of them, greet the eldest one, or not greet them at all? I picked the second option, shook the hand of the white-haired elder, and, blushing with shame, rushed into the kitchen for a snack with the women. In the next two days I was passing tea cups to the elders at the end of the table, eating with hands, helping set the mid-afternoon snack with fruit and delicious Eastern desserts. The time I spent with them reminded me of the importance of cherishing one’s family, so often washed down by our “globalized,” fast-paced lives. The traditionally nomadic society seemed settled down in comparison with ours.

My time in Kazakhstan  was a period of intense learning in which the maxim “you notice things when you observe” proved a most valuable partner. In a professional aspect, I examined the economic upheaval and growing strategic importance of the country, as well as the Eurasian information space. As a tourist, I discovered the historical riches and beautiful nature of both the Almaty area and Astana. On a personal level, I got to know a distinct multiethnic and multiconfessional culture that has remained vibrant in spite of the Soviet intrusions.

Ivelina Georgieva is a junior Diplomacy and World Affairs major. She can be reached at igeorgieva@oxy.edu

Countown to Change: The Cambridge Reaction

By Kevin Adler ‘07

 

 

“Are you an American?” spat a pint-sized Cantabrian, with marked disdain in the final word.

“Yes, I am,” I replied.

I took a moment to ponder where this was going. My new acquaintance had already decided.

“I hate Americans,” he repulsed.

November 2007

At precisely thirty seconds till 4 a.m., a countdown began in the Cambridge Union.

Thirty! Twenty-nine! Twenty-eight! The setting was unabashedly patriotic. Flags draped over mahogany banisters. Red, white, and blue streamers crisscrossed the debating chamber, host to countless luminary and disrepute alike over one hundred-fifty-plus years of history.

Twenty-two! Twenty-one! Twenty! The excitement was palpable. The cavernous room buzzed. Friends from the far-reaches of the globe bounced up and down together, counting each second off with heaving bodies and breathless gasps.

Fifteen! Fourteen! Thirteen! Five-hundred bleary eyes met on the projector screen. A three-toned map of the States appeared, with a preponderance of blue and a contiguous bloc of red and grey – disappearing touches of grey.

Twelve! Eleven! The map gave way to the shadowed outline of students’ upper halves as we overtook the bottom third of the screen.

Ten! We moved closer; heads grew larger, shoulders jostled and torsos appeared.

Nine! We moved closer; hands were raised. Fists pumped. Change was…

Eight! Eight years. Eight years of heavy inquisitions for Americans abroad, all too often disparagingly phrased a la diminutive Cambridge students or Daily Mirror (U.K.) headlines: “How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?”

Seven! What if you did not vote for Bush?

Six! …but you do not think half of your countrymen are “DUMB”?

Five! What if you disagree with the policies of the current government?

Four! …but love the country and what it stands for nonetheless?

Three! As an American abroad, you become a cultural ambassador. You serve as a key source of information for U.S. values, policies and intentions. Your responsibility is even greater with an unpopular president. Regardless of which candidate received your vote, each American overseas unwittingly signs up for an international treaty of a different sort simply by being an American overseas. Think of it as AFTA – Answer for the Administration.

Two! If you have been an American abroad over the past eight years, you probably are a life member of AFTA: my own membership dues were paid during grand taxis rides in Morocco and hillside barbecues in Sarajevo, over spaetzle and wurst in Bavaria and pints in England.

One! But on that Tuesday night in November, the chants were for the next U.S. president.

Yes… McCain graciously conceded.

We Can. And Obama began:

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our Founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

The election of our 44^th President was celebrated late into that very good British night. Five-hundred bleary eyes welled-up with tears. And we all embraced.

November 2008

Revolutionary Roots: Coffee Cooperatives in Nicaragua

By Claire O’Connell ‘10

In June 2008, I traveled to Nicaragua with my brother, Shane O’Connell, after receiving a Richter Scholars Grant to travel  and spend the summer researching, interviewing and documenting the lives of small coffee farmers. This radio documentary is the final product of our research, and it explores the difficulties of coffee farmers and their cooperatives in post-revolution Nicaragua.

The Sandinista Revolution of the 1970s successfully toppled the Somozan dictatorship and ushered in a socialist Sandinista government in 1980. The newly instated FSLN government redistributed thousands of acres of farmland owned by the 5 percent of the population that controlled Nicaragua’s wealth, handing the land over to the poorer majority of Nicaragua. These newly made small farms were organized into government cooperatives, mostly for farming coffee. The government oversight over these cooperatives was to ensure that no corporate farms capitalized the market. Although ambitious in design, these cooperatives eventually crumbled due to internal conflicts and lack of government support. This revolution was critical to the creation and existence of coffee cooperatives today.

After the coffee crisis of the 1990s, a movement to re-unionize coffee cooperatives gained momentum in Nicaragua. Many communities decided to organize again into their own cooperatives in order to protect their land. The Sandinista revolutionary ideals have been reborn within these cooperatives that are striving to unite, educate and provide for their communities. The Sandinista belief that one is stronger in numbers, united, was essential to the creation of these cooperatives. These coffee cooperatives have unionized to access the fair trade market and are actively changing what it means to be a small farmer in the developing world. Through social programs funded by fair trade’s social premium, farmers and community members are taking the initiative to improve their communities by funding schools, public health services, and roads.

However, as these coffee unions are an extension of the ideologies of the Sandinista revolution, they also carry parallel weaknesses. A lack of transparency and corruption threatens the future of these cooperatives. Through interviews with community members, cooperative members and activists, this radio documentary examines the problems that these coffee unions face.

Listen to the radio documentary here:

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Claire O’Connell ‘10 is a Diplomacy and World Affairs Major. She can be reached at claire.c.oconnell@gmail.com. Shane O’Connell is a Recording Engineer Major at Clive Davis School of Recorded Music in the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. He can be reached at shane.oconnell@nyu.edu.

Room to Grow for Chilean Wine

By Jamie Thalman ‘10

Over a year ago, I came across an article about the resurgence of a once thought to be extinct type of grape used to produce a unique wine, now grown exclusively in Chile. I knew nothing of wine, but the article sparked an interest. As summer approached, my close friend and fellow Oxy student, Gene Shtark, and I entertained possible summer research projects that would take us abroad. We settled on Chile – specifically, Chilean wine.

After preliminary research, we discovered that the Chilean wine industry had experienced an era of unprecedented growth that ended over seven years ago. While exports have since excelled, Chilean wine producers have seen increasing competition from Australia, South Africa and Argentina. Australia just recently surpassed Chile in exports to the United States. We saw an opportunity to learn a great deal about challenges Chilean wine makers face. After gaining support from Oxy’s Undergraduate Research Center and Economics Department, it became clear we were going to Chile. Not long after we secured our project, another Oxy student, Brendan Rakphongphairoj, joined Gene and I in executing our research.

To explain Chile’s relative wine export stagnation and understand competing strategies to stimulate growth, we conducted interviews with representatives from Universidad Catolica, Wines of Chile, Kingston Family Vineyards, Concha y Toro, Santa Rita, Viña Mar and Indomita. Studies suggested that a majority of Chilean wine makers lacked cutting edge production techniques while few major producers sequestered modern production technologies and distribution networks. Reports suggested poor vineyard communication and collaboration coupled with insufficient investment partially explained the slow growth in the industry. Based on interviews conducted and observations made of wine producers and their constituents, wine production techniques, vineyard collaboration and inadequate levels of investment do not fully explain the relative sluggish growth of wine exports.

Viña Mar, a recently established vineyard in Casablanca Valley utilizes closed fermentation tanks and advanced grape presses in the production of their Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots and Carmeneres. Instead, Gene, Brendan and I argue that the relative stagnation of Chilean wine exports can be attributed to the appreciation of the Chilean Peso to the US Dollar, overemphasized production of red wine, challenges faced in global distribution and international market penetration, lack of wine differentiation and inadequate support of and from strategic organizations.

The appreciation of the Chilean Peso relative to the US Dollar partially explains the relative slow growth of wine exports. With wine bought in the currency of the importing nation, Chilean winemakers and exporters are exposed to fluctuations in exchange rates of Pesos and currencies of import as they exchange the payments for Pesos. Of all wine exported, 17% is sent to the United States, leaving wine-producers vulnerable to Peso-Dollar exchange rates. At the end of 2003, 1 US Dollar bought 700 Chilean Pesos, however, by March 2008 1 US Dollar could be exchanged for only 450 Pesos – a 29% appreciation in the value of the Peso relative to the Dollar.

Chilean wine sold in US markets has decreased in value significantly over the past four years as winemakers and exporters receive fewer Pesos for their wine selling at unchanged US prices. Unable to raise the price of wine without experiencing lower levels of demand, all costs become relative with the appreciating Peso. Edmundo Bordeu of Catolica Universidad explained that many smaller wineries have not been able to endure the exchange rate as it stands and cover costs. He has witnessed wineries either exit the market or merge with the few largest producers. Since March of 2008 the Peso has depreciated 22% to over 500, suggesting profitability may improve for exporting wineries. Exchange rates, however, do not fully explain the export stagnation.

The historically overemphasized production of Chilean red wine also helps explain the export stagnation. Red varieties constitute 80% of all Destination of Origin Chilean wine produced at over 480 million liters (SAG). Consumption of red versus white wine in target export markets such as United Kingdom, Germany or United States is basically evenly divided. Chilean wineries have not yet adjusted production to match consumer preferences and their production potential. In neglecting to expand production of white wines, Chilean producers are not well represented in half of wines consumed. Conversely, Australia produces wines in accordance with consumption patterns and has experienced unparalleled export growth. Bordeu and Jennifer Rix of Kingston Family Vineyards suggest Chile still has great potential to produce a variety of white wines. Kingston Family Vineyards are slowly expanding growth of high quality, expensive grapes for white wine production in Casablanca Valley. With the emergence of untapped regions positioned to grow grapes for white wine, Chile could match consumer preferences and stimulate export growth. The recent establishment of vineyards such as Viña Mar and Indomita in Casablanca Valley reflect a movement toward greater white wine production.

Furthermore, barriers surrounding entry into international markets prevent many wineries from capturing market share abroad. When looking at the United States, each state has unique rules and regulations regarding wine production and sales. In order to meet such rules and regulations, Chilean wines must be produced, bottled and labeled to meet specific state requirements. In looking to export to the United States, vineyards are forced to target and establish distribution in certain states. While on the export side, wineries face difficulties establishing distribution in the US. From the perspective of US distribution Forbes said that to adopt a Chilean wine for distribution, another wine already carried would have to be dropped. As retailers and distributors operate at full capacity, Chilean wineries wishing to enter US markets would have to provide incentives beyond their product, such as advertising or retail display pieces. With the initial establishment of Chilean wines in these US markets, it becomes increasingly difficult and costly to capture a greater share of distribution. Only firms with substantial resources such as Los Vascos, Concha y Toro and Santa Rita have been able to establish extensive distribution networks. As of 2007, Concha y Toro’s brands represented well over 40% of all Chilean wines sold in the US. Rix explained that to establish Kingston Family Vineyards’ export network, a member of the vineyard attained a US importing and distribution licenses and started importing to California’s Bay Area herself, selling directly to retailers. Smaller vineyards have been forced to work outside of the conventional methods of distribution.

In addition to the challenges faced with market penetration, a lack of wine specialization has hampered the demand and appeal of Chilean wine. Chilean vineyards produced a vide variety of wines such Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Viognier. Previously, many consumers turned to producers that specialized in such varieties from France, Italy or Australia. Without a uniquely Chilean variety of wine, producers entered markets as a low price alternative to high-end French or Italian and even Australian brands. As greatest growth prospects currently exist in middle and higher priced wines, Chilean wines would not be well positioned to experience such growth. However in 1998, tests were conducted on what was previously believed to be Chilean Merlot. After further investigation the Merlot was in fact found to be Carmenere, a variety of wine once grown in France and the Americas but thought extinct after the phylloxera infestation. Since this development, Carmenere has been identified as a uniquely Chilean variety. All wineries consulted in this research displayed their production of Carmenere as a source of pride. Production of Carmenere has expanded since 1998 to now constitute 10% of all wine produced in Chile and could be a major area of growth. As the profile and production of Carmenere develop, it may provide Chile with the specialization and comparative advantage it lacked.

Without a mandatory support system and a lack of brand specific advertising, Wines of Chile may experience a “free-rider” problem where wineries experience the benefits of the organization’s efforts without contributing to its success. Bouiey did not see this as a potential problem and argued that with time his organization could effect export growth. He went on to explain that Wines of Chile is currently targeting the United States as the greatest market to infiltrate. They plan to open a New York City office in 2010 to better coordinate strategic operations. Further they hope to establish an association of quality for Chilean wine in most price ranges above $12 a bottle. He described Chilean wine as not only the best value, but in some cases the best quality as well. The organization hopes to demonstrate this development with blind taste-tests in Los Angeles, Boston, New York and other major US cities. With increased support from participating wineries and the Chilean government, Wines of Chile stands to establish a superior value for Chilean wines. With their brand ambiguous approach, garnering individual winery support may prove to be a great challenge.

Chilean wine producers no longer face problems related to inferior production techniques or lack of adequate investment. Instead they are now experiencing challenges related to further establishment in markets. Coupled with vulnerability related to exchange rate volatility, wine producers’ profitability is partially beyond their control. While Chilean wine makers face increasing competition from Australia, South Africa and Argentina, with sophisticated methods of production, Chilean brands are now able to compete with their French and Italian counterparts. Wine producers are now working to build their brand presence with strategies such as the promotions Concha y Toro has launched to build its winery as a tourist destination. As wineries and organizations such as Wines of Chile focus on the advancement of Chilean wines, demand for higher priced Chilean wines could provide the industry with substantial growth prospects. Gene, Brendan and I learned a great deal not only about the Chilean wine industry, as this article reflects, but we also learned valuable lessons regarding research methods and travelling abroad.

Jamie Thalman is a junior Diplomacy and World Affairs major. He can be reached at jthalman@oxy.edu.

 

More Than Fetching Coffee

By Jason Knudson ‘08

The second semester of my senior year was one of the most challenging and exciting times in my life. I was working on two senior theses but I was also attempting to figure out my life after graduation. I had applied to various internships in Washington, D.C. but the Korea Economic Institute was on the top of my list for many reasons.

In the summer of 2006, I attended the Japan America Student Conference (JASC). JASC brings together a large group of American and Japanese political and economic scholars for a month long academic conference either in Japan or the United States. At the 2006 JASC, which was held in the Untied States, we had the opportunity to visit the Korea Economic Institute and hear a talk from the President of the Korea Economic Institute, Charles L. (Jack) Pritchard—former ambassador and special envoy for negotiations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. I was overwhelmingly impressed with the organization and Ambassador Pritchard.  I decided to work hard my senior year to be chosen as an intern at the Korea Economic Institute. 

I graduated Occidental College in May 2008 as a double major in Diplomacy and World Affairs and Asian Studies. I had taken a wide variety of courses from Comparative Politics to Japanophila. Yet I never had the opportunity to take a course on northeast Asia. After the first week at the Korea Economic Institute, I was able to immerse myself within an institution that works to improve the foundation of United States-Korea relations. The office at the Korea Economic Institute is quite small, including nine full-time staff and three interns, compared to other think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation, the Brookings Institution or the Center for Institutional and Strategic Studies (CISS). Because it is small, however, the institute can act more cohesively as every staff member, including interns, attends an office meeting every Monday to discuss policy, politics and each member’s agenda for the week. This enabled me to be introduced to the comprehensive work that the institute is involved in my first day on the job.    

The Institute was established in 1982 as a South Korean government sponsored public policy institute. The institute originally focused on the most important issue at the time for the United States-South Korean alliance—the economy. However, as South Korea became a more prominent member of the international community during the 1980s and 1990s, the Korea Economic Institute began to expand to become a comprehensive institute that explores issues ranging from international security to free-trade negotiations.

As an intern at the Korea Economic Institute, I was given many important duties and responsibilities. As a public policy institute, members of the office were required to attend any and all events that pertained to issues that could be important for the South Korean government. After attending an event, we were required to write a follow up report for the South Korean embassy in Washington, D.C. and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIIEP). Throughout the nine weeks of my internship, I attended sixteen different hearings, talks and programs at various think tanks, academic forums and senate committees. I attended a talk by Ambassador Nabil Fahmy, former editor-in-chief of the Economist Bill Emmott, Professor Jagdish Bhagwati and Speaker of the House of Taiwan Wang Jin-pyng. I went to a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in which Joe Biden, Richard Lugar and John Kerry discussed the growing militarization of U.S. foreign policy and a hearing of the Finance Committee in which former U.S. trade representatives discussed free-trade agreements. For each program, I was responsible to write up the report, have it edited and send out the final copy.

Each one of the speakers that I mentioned gave talks related to issues that indirectly pertained to South Korea. However, one day during the summer, I had the opportunity to experience real United States-Korea diplomacy being constructed. On July 1, I received insider information that Ambassador Christopher Hill was going to be giving an update on the six-party talks at CSIS. For those of you who are reading this and wondering why I am making a big deal of Christopher Hill. He is the Ambassador representing the United States at the table of the six-party talks between the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea. I attended his talk with Ambassador Pritchard in a room packed with video cameras, journalists, and prominent policy makers. He discussed the recent agreements with North Korea, which included the United States taking North Korea off the state sponsor of terrorism list in return for a declaration of all of North Korea’s nuclear programs, and the future of six-party talk process. Following his speech, I attended another program on the North Korean issue which hosted my boss Ambassador Pritchard, Dr. Robert L. Gallucci, former lead Ambassador responsible for the 1994 Agreed Framework; and Bruce Klingner, Senior Research Fellow for the Northeast Asia and Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation. The panel discussed many different facets of the North Korean nuclear crisis and provided innovative recommendations to improve our nation’s security.

The relationship between the United States and Korea impact international security and developing tangible ideas to better those relationships is essential for a more secure and peaceful international environment. I felt like a part of that development of ideas during that program and throughout the entire summer at the Korea Economic Institute.

During a summer in which North Korea destroyed its cooling tower at its nuclear facility at Pyongyang and South Korea citizens vehemently protested their government’s decision to allow U.S. beef imports interning at the Korea Economic Institute was both exciting as well as professionally and academically challenging. I took a lot out of my experience in Washington and I encourage those who are interested in U.S.-East Asia relations to research the Korea Economic Institute.

If you are interested in interning for the Korea Economic Institute you can reach Jason at jknudson21@gmail.com or visit the internship website at http://www.keia.org/internships.php.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Belfast, Identity and Vanishing Murals

by: Linda Lyke, Professor of Art and her daughter,Grainne Godfree, Graduate student Columbia University

This past July, I was invited to the Belfast Printmaking Workshop in Northern Ireland as a visiting artist. Belfast – the city’s recent history that conjures up grainy images of brick throwing rioters, burning buses, and bullet-ridden pubs – was to be my home for two weeks. Before the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Catholic and Protestant neighbors had spent 39 years mired in internecine warfare. The Troubles started as a civil rights movement by the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland but quickly descended into a bloody struggle between paramilitary forces. The Catholic IRA fought for equal rights and many desired unification with the South. The UVF defended Protestant supremacy and the union with England. Last year, as the peace treaty held, British “peacekeeping” troops finally left Northern Ireland. Catholics had won equal rights and a powerful political voice. The Protestants had kept their place in the United Kingdom. As watchtowers were dismantled and tourists were welcomed, it seemed the Troubles were finally over.
When I first arrived, Belfast’s violent history seemed nothing more than a distant, if somewhat exciting, memory. The Irish printmakers awed me with their generous hospitality. I was busy every day in the studio and every night with pub crawls, art openings, and family dinners. Friendships develop quickly over a shared cup of tea or a pint of Guinness. (The Irish take their tea and Guinness seriously!) Sights included Trinity College, the homes of C.S. Lewis and Van Morrison, the docks where the Titanic was built, and the Europa Hotel, which has the dubious distinction of being the most bombed hotel in the world. As a visual artist, I was particularly excited to see the political murals in the Catholic and Protestant estates.
During my second week, Belfast’s bloody past and uneasy future became a solemn reality. As I walked to the print shop early in the morning, I passed a huge smoking stack of wooden ballasts. People were staring at the burning heap in dismay. I asked around and learned that Protestant Unionists were gearing up to celebrate the Battle of the Boyne on July 12th – which commemorates the victory of the Protestant, British King William III over Ireland in 1690. On the night before July 12th, Protestants light huge bonfires around the city. A Catholic friend described the night as “a fascist demonstration by Unionist psychos.” My cabbie told me “it was a lovely celebration for the whole family.” Regardless of your religious leaning, the facts remain as follows. The bonfires, built months in advance, are often topped with burning effigies of the pope and the Tricolor flag of Ireland (although Belfast City Council gives grants to dissuade such affronts.) During the days leading up to the 12th, young boys guard the towering structures to prevent Catholics from lighting the bonfires early. The smoking stack I walked by was the result of such a midnight attack.

The tension between Catholics and Protestants continues muted, but ever present. Catholics still remember a time when the electoral system, educational opportunities and access to housing were designed to keep them out of power. The Protestants, like the Israelis, fear that without vigilance their country will cease to exist. Yet despite these grievances, it seemed like Catholics and Protestants were remarkably similar. The capital of Northern Ireland is tiny with only 300,000 residents (compared to Los Angeles’s 3.8 million.) You can easily walk around Belfast in a day. And, completely at odds with my own experience in a diverse city, Protestants and Catholics all look alike, speak the same language, and are nominally Christian. I wondered how Protestants and Catholics retained their separate identities, magnifying their differences to become more important than their similarities. Aggressively exclusive traditions like Bonfire Night and the July marching season enable Protestants to remain insular. (Many Catholics take their summer holiday during this time.) More interesting for me, as a visual artist, was the way that the murals throughout Belfast constructed separate Catholic and Protestant identities.

The Catholic artery of Belfast is Falls Road. An artist friend of mine Robin Cordiner, took me on a tour of the neighborhood one rainy afternoon. Immense, colorful murals decorate the walls and gable-end houses. Many of these murals orientate Catholic Republicans with a global leftist movement. They lambaste Bush, memorialize Ché, and proclaim support for the Palestinians. For the most part, I would say the artists are self-trained, their figures lacking dimension. But this in no way robs the murals of their expressive power. Many murals also portray uniquely Republican heroes, such as the hunger-striker Bobby Sands or the fighters of the 1916 Easter Rising. The murals contribute to the sense of a shared history and help construct a unified Catholic Republican identity.

If you travel up Falls Road, you enter the Unionist areas along Shankill Road and Sandy Row. The change is immediately visible. Union Jack flags hang across the streets. The curbs are painted blue. The murals here are remarkably different than their Republican
counterparts. Protestants draw heavily on their military past for inspiration. In both WWI and WWII, when many Republicans were refusing to fight for the Crown, Unionists were dying in the trenches and the battlefields. They brought back this militarism to Northern Ireland and are extraordinarily proud of their past sacrifice. Robyn explained the trick to spotting a Protestant mural, “If there’s a balaclava, it’s Protestant.” The black clad figures, carrying machine guns, are strangely incongruous with the ordinary folk strolling past. A contingent of Belfast denizens want to move away from the paramilitary murals. In 2006, the Belfast City Council announced the £3.3 million “Re-imaging Communities Program.” This three-year push aims to “help all communities in urban and rural areas tackle the visible signs of sectarianism and racism and to create a welcoming environment for everyone.” Neutral images like those of football star George Best have replaced some of the most incendiary murals, (including those that canonized convicted murderers like Johnny Adair.) Although it seems a bit like trying to erase history, and robs the town of a certain sadistic tourist appeal, I would rather have children emulate footballers than armed thugs. I asked another printmaker what he thought of the City Council’s move to re-paint paramilitary murals. He shook his head, “Oh don’t ask me. I’m not a reliable prod. I’m a gay artist who talks funny, walks funny.” Monolith identity is always an illusion.

Robyn was generally supportive of the City Council’s program. “On the whole the paramilitary imagery is only being removed from sites that are on main arterial routes around the city so the more adventurous tourist will have to delve deep into the housing estates to see the real deal.” Because of efforts to create a more inclusive environment,
Robyn was paid to create murals for a public park. He decided to print (rather than paint) images of fairies out of deference to the large fairy tree in the park. In Irish folklore, fairy trees act as a gateway between the two worlds. Irish fairies are fierce creatures who
exact swift revenge on anyone who ill-treats their trees. Apparently, the vicar in the church behind the park left his post due to the stress of burying so many people that had harmed the tree. Despite the park’s dark history, wee children love to play in its lush garden. Robyn’s views on the Troubles seem to be fairly indicative of mainstream Protestant attitudes. Vehemently against the sectarian violence, Robyn still wants Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom. When my daughter asked him why he wasn’t in favor of unification with the South, he replied, “My government is in London, my flag is the Union Jack, I use the sterling.” Skeptically, she nodded. Later she whispered to me, “Dude, he’s Irish.”

The murals of Belfast are a visual phenomenon well worth the trip. (A tourist can catch a bus from City Hall or hire a black cab for a more detailed tour.) One of the reasons the Belfast murals have emerged is simply the architecture of the city. Without the flat, gable-end houses, there would be no space for their display. The fact that paramilitary groups fund and protect the murals is another reason for their staying power. In Los Angeles, such street art would immediately be tagged or plastered with advertisements. Throughout the Troubles, the raw expressive power of the murals was used to create distinct Republican and Unionist identities. In Northern Ireland’s new dawn, murals are also being created to foster a more inclusive identity. Sport stars and Celtic folklore offer colorful breaks from urban sprawl. As I took a last glance at Robyn’s fairy park, I thought of the ways that art can act as a healing salve. It’s going to take more than the re-painting of paramilitary murals to ease tension, but perhaps it’s a start.

Influence Still Growing

Americanization in the Far East

by: Prof. Xiao-huang Yin

‘It’s just like China,” I thought to myself as I toured Hanoi, Vietnam’s prosperous downtown. It was my first trip to Hanoi, but the city and its busy street life felt familiar, as if I were returning to my old hometown in China. The sound of the language, the traditional architecture, the streets filled with Chinese-made motorcycles, the dress of people on the crowded sidewalks – everything was so reminiscent of China that I wondered, for the first time in my life, if the ethnic joke that all Asians look the same might contain some truth.
I found out, however, that the Vietnamese have a very strong sense of nationality and see themselves as very much apart from China. What the two countries do share, however, is even more of a surprise – an increasingly heavy American footprint.

I was struck by a feeling of simplicity and honesty in Vietnamese life that used to be characteristic of Chinese society until “modernization” began in the 1980s. When I hired a Vietnamese motorcyclist to drive me around Hanoi, he would take only the equivalent of $2.50 for his fare, though I offered him more. When I mentioned this to a Vietnamese friend, he laughed: “Well, I guess we haven’t been quite corrupted by market economy.”

But I later came to rethink my ideas about similarities between Vietnam and China. While shopping in Hanoi, I found that the Chinese currency, the renminbi, whose principal unit is the yuan, was favored by most street peddlers over the Vietnamese currency, the dong. But when I asked my hotel receptionist if Chinese money was indeed more popular than other currencies in Vietnam, her sweet smile vanished. “The most popular and respected currency in Vietnam is the dong,” she responded sternly. “Dong actually means shield in Vietnamese,” she then added, as if to warn me that Vietnam knows how to protect herself against her giant neighbor in the north.

On another occasion, I was visiting the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, and the guidebook claimed Ho could speak five different languages: Vietnamese, French, Chinese, English and Russian. I voiced some skepticism to our guide, and the young man shot back sharply: “What do you mean? Are you challenging Uncle Ho’s language ability and talents?” Up to that point, he’d spoken with admiration of the prosperity of Chinese society, but now his angry voice reminded me of the way Chinese Red Guards defended Chairman Mao in the old days.

Vietnamese nationalism hit me even more unmistakably when I questioned a store owner about the quality of her pearl necklaces. Guessing I might be from China, she retorted: “Only Chinese like to sell fake goods.”

Then I realized what it was that was really making Hanoi seem familiar to my eyes, less foreign. It wasn’t its seeming “Chinese-ness” – it was its many manifestations of Americanization.

Spurred by globalization and the pre-Olympics frenzy, English has become fashionable throughout China. The situation is the same in Vietnam because of the growing American influence there. Touring Hanoi’s scenic spots, I was constantly met with students eager to practice English – the “global language” – with foreign visitors. DVDs and discs of the latest American movies and music spill off the shelves of crowded stores.

For my last dinner in Hanoi, I followed the suggestion of a Vietnamese friend and went to a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. In both Vietnam and China, American fast-food restaurants are now favored by many as a symbol of progress and modernity. It seems that while America may have “lost” China and Vietnam during the Cold War era, it has regained its ground in Beijing and Hanoi in today’s globalized economy. Ironically, cultural values and economic influence have proven more powerful than military might in winning hearts and minds.

Even the notorious Hoa Lo Prison – the “Hanoi Hilton,” in which American POWs were held during the war, has been transformed into a public museum. One wonders: If John McCain wins the presidential election this November, and then visits Vietnam, what kind of welcome would this Vietnam War hero receive?

As published in the Philadelphia Inquirer July 22, 2008. Republished with permission of the Author.

From Bean to Cup

International Development, Coffee, and Chimpanzees

After graduating from Occidental College in 2006, I moved to Portland, Oregon to join David Griswold ’84 and Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers to focus on an emerging sector of the company’s business: farmer training programs in the developing world.

During my time at Oxy, I developed a knack at developing grant proposals, and traveled on Richter, Lilly, and Anderson fellowships to sub-Saharan Africa, Vietnam, and the Czech Republic, as well as studying abroad in the Dominican Republic. From these explorations, I had a good sense for how international development is done, but only as an observer. Now that I’m working for Sustainable Harvest, I’ve learned about international development firsthand by writing a grant and developing a project overseas. This has taught me a tremendous amount about international business, the world of development, and the nuances of trying to make the world a better place.

Sustainable Harvest works with coffee growers in fourteen regions throughout Latin America and Africa and sells high quality, specialty coffee to roasters in the US and Europe, including Whole Foods. Sustainable Harvest’s value comes in creating long-term relationships with coffee cooperatives and roasters, so that cooperatives have a long-standing revenue stream for their coffee. This means reinvesting part of our profit back into the supply chain to provide farmer training for cooperatives in need.

Sustainable Harvest has a very innovative model–both economically with a triple bottom line of people, planet, and profits–and for its reinvestment and focus on its supply chain. As I learn more and more about international business, I’ve found that supply chain transparency, traceability, and credibility is a vital tool to differentiate your businesses and insure a high quality product is being transferred down to customers.

My entrance to the world of international development came in 2006, when I traveled to Tanzania on business to learn about the Kanyovu Coffee Curing Cooperative, which borders Gombe National Park—a small habitat for the quickly disappearing chimpanzees and the site where Jane Goodall conducted her groundbreaking research that not only humans use tools. On the ground in the Kigoma District, I quickly realized that the Kanyovu cooperative needed a comprehensive approach to improving the quality of their coffee, and our annual allocation of funds to cover farmer training would only scratch the surface of what this cooperative needed. While most of Sustainable Harvest’s work focuses on training that we can fund ourselves, I quickly realized that the investment this cooperative needed included a multi-year time frame and a much grater fiscal investment for the insertion of training, technology, and infrastructure.

I wrote a grant proposal to The Lemelson Foundation and received funding for a three year project for the Kanyovu cooperative. Now in its second year, this comprehensive international development initiative has brought daily trainings on all aspects of coffee growing, processing and exporting, innovative low-water use coffee processing technology, watershed protection, and infrastructure for coffee drying and storage.

It hasn’t been an easy process—despite five staff members on the ground and my twice-annual visits to the region, but we have been successful in achieving the goals of our initiative. We have also more than doubled the price farmers are receiving for their high quality, specialty coffee from approximately $0.70 cents per pound to over $1.80 per pound (the fair trade minimum price for a pound of coffee is approximately $1.40 per pound).

What have I learned? In the process of doing this project, I’ve learned how difficult it is to do development in such a way that it truly has an impact. In the world of international development in general, there is a tendency focus on the notoriety for the good development deeds your organization has done–sometimes at the expense of actually having impact from your work. At Sustainable Harvest, I’m proud to say that our focus is on community impact. Secondly, it’s important to think about where the new money that development injects in the community is going. Ideally, it pays for health care, education, food security, and better jobs. Unfortunately or fortunately, it also pays for iPods. In Kigoma, I’ve seen both things happen. However, hearing stories about the local hospital reaching better financial security due to community members finally being able to pay for treatments, and families being able to pay school fees, trumps the new Nano I saw in the Kalinzi village the other day. After all, international development fundamentally gives people options and choices, where they once had none. This coupled with more education gives people the tools to make better decisions for the health of our ecosystems and our world. And this idea motivates me to go to work each day and make a difference in our world.

Tradition and Cambridge

 

Picture everybody in their knickers.

I find this strategy helpful at times in reifying the University of Cambridge.

After four wonderful, coddling years at Occidental College – and yes, they were coddling, a term I use purposefully, albeit more broadly than ever before, as I now extend “coddling” to any institution of higher learning with an electronic course registration system, departmental unanimity in lecture times and locations, and/or a lovely lunch lady named Kathy who is eager to make sure you have enough salami and spicy jack on your sandwich – I am now in graduate school, 5000 miles away and an entire world removed from anything in my portfolio of experiences.

Now, the fine folks at the IPO or the Lilly Grant may scratch their heads here and ask (rightfully so), “then what did you do with all that money we gave you the last time you said you wanted to study in England?” There is, of course, no need for alarm: those pictures of the Houses of Parliament and Hampstead Heath weren’t mere postcards. They were real. My time at University College London in the fall of 2005 was real. My work on freedom of expression at ARTICLE 19 the following summer was also real (by the way, do I still owe you a Morocco/Algeria FOE presentation, Professor Akiyama? Sorry again.).

But so far, my time at the University of Cambridge is surreal, unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced.

Allow me to mention four reasons why, beginning each first word for each separate reason with the letter “p.” (This system may seem illogical from the outset, but it will relate to a larger point about Cambridge, so please do indulge me for a moment!)

1. Picturesque. Whether gazing up at the world’s largest example of fan vaulted ceilings in King’s College Chapel, or strolling along the verdant grounds embanking the River Cam, Cambridge is an absolute scenic exemplar in both man’s workmanship and God’s touch. Oh, and there are cows in Midsummer Common. The cows alternate between chewing the cud and staring at me as I ride by on my bike. I rather like those heifers.

2. Posh. By and large, the accents and mannerisms, phrases and idioms are prototypically “English” in the romanticized Victorian sense. Dances are called “bops.” Conversation at The Eagle (famous pub) flits between Symbolic Interactionism and Stephen Hawking, decolonization and DNA (after all, the pub is where Watson and Crick first discovered it). Nigel and Lawrence and John and Edward must constitute at least 10% of the male Christian names here. My Ph.D.-bound flat mate is reading Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic languages and literature. I could go on. 

Whilst Cambridge is irrevocably posh, it is not pretentious, at least not at the graduate level. Coming from a small, humble country-esque town in California, I initially found the entire consortium of peers and experience a great deal overwhelming and a wee bit intimidating. These sentiments reflect my own trepidations just as much as the grandiosity some students & instructors like to project. But I am impressed by the overall friendliness of the students, posh or not.

3. Public School versus State School. The former – which is the rough equivalent of an elite private school in the States – is the storied domicile of English Aristocracy, with schools like Eton, Rugby, Harrow and Winchester College garnering international recognition. Students from the latter – primary and secondary school paid for by the general public via the government – are underrepresented at Oxbridge. 

This underrepresentation of state school students (and general sensitivity to where you come from) raises the larger issues of class structure and treatment of minority and/or disenfranchised groups. While most students seem to be attuned to these issues and are fairly critical of the present status quo, a sense of urgency is not readily apparent. I find this strange. Coming from an undergraduate institution where empowerment is a keystone, Cambridge appears antiquated in its tacit continuation of society’s power relations. 

However, this is not to say that diversity is nonexistent here. In terms of nationalities, Cambridge is refreshingly worldly. To provide two personal examples: my college brings in 50% of its students from overseas (non-UK), and my cadre of friends hails from all over the world – Cyprus, Australia, Lebanon, Germany, China, and India, to name a few countries of origin. So, perhaps in the same vein as Occidental, a diversity of sorts is achieved; and, like Oxy, the choice is left to the individual student on whether to engage it as it stands, or to withdraw in dismissive hostility. Then and now, I favor the former.

4. People. Brilliant professors. World class researchers. And, of constant note, unbelievable alumni. Nary a day drifts by that I am not reminded by someone, somewhere, that so-and-so world class such-and-such attended Cambridge. In theory, this is exciting, even useful (wouldn’t it be neat to have Charles Darwin in the CDC’s Alumni Directory or to call Dr. Manmohan Singh about your upcoming term paper on India?). However, on a day-to-day basis, I find that the alumni are more often used to unconstructively prod current students. Work very hard and you might not disgrace us. Consider a dry comment by the Praelector at Matriculation (the day we sign the registry and become official members of the university): “Milton, Newton, and Keynes have signed this book. And now you.” Yikes.

This brings me to the theme underlying the Cambridge experience, more or less evident in all these various points, summed up in a single word: tradition. While I find some of the traditions quaint and quirky, as an outsider – and here, an outsider would be anyone who has not studied before at Oxbridge, as the institution is too distinctive to be a shared experience with much else – I find most of the traditions nonsensical, counterintuitive, and occasionally bewildering. Why does the university week begin on a Thursday and end on a Wednesday? Why do some colleges have “bedders” who literally make up the lazy student’s bed? Why must students wear formal gowns to all official church services? The answer to these, and most other institutional “why” questions, is tradition, or some variation of “it’s been that way for 800 years.” Even when the apparent “tradition” does not make sense, “it’s been that way for 800 years” usually suffices.

I wonder if my “paragraphs begin with p” thing will catch on?

Probably not.