Two of the commentators that we featured on The Monkey Cage last week discussing developments in post-communist politicsl went on to have op-ed pieces published on these topics.
First, “Eric McGlinchey”:http://mason.gmu.edu/~emcglinc/ had an op-ed in the _NY Times_ entitled “Running in Circles in Kyrgyzstan”:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/opinion/10mcglinchey.html. It begins:
bq. WHENEVER I am in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, I wake early and run in the central stadium. I enjoy it for two reasons: first, it’s one of the few places where I can exercise without Bishkek’s feral dogs attacking my ankles, and, second, that I actually run on the track provides endless amusement for the gaggle of Kyrgyz politicians I lap as they amble and shoot the breeze.
bq. Some of my stadium acquaintances hold positions of power. Others do not. This week, those on the in and those on the out swapped places. I’m certain, though, that it will be the same gaggle at the track next week, negotiating ever-changing alliances while the rest of Bishkek sleeps.
“Click here for the rest of the op-ed”:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/opinion/10mcglinchey.html
Second, “Anna-Grzymala-Busse”:http://www-personal.umich.edu/~abusse/ and I had a co-authored piece on _The New Republic_ website building on last weekend’s Polish plane crash entitled “Transitions: The Unlikely Triumph of Polish Democracy”:http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/transitions. Some extracts from the piece:
bq. One of the worst days for Poland is rapidly becoming one of its greatest.
bq. The country’s president, its armed forces’ chiefs of staff, and its National Bank President, along with many more high state officials–the core members of Poland’s governing elite–lost their lives on Saturday morning. Much of the media attention has been on the destination of the presidential visit: the commemoration of the Katyn massacre in 1940. On Stalin’s orders the Soviet NKVD executed nearly 20,000 Polish Army officers (who were also key members of the educational, professional, and administrative elite).
bq. ….Yet the focus on history, however horrific, misses a central point: The tragedy is rapidly becoming a triumph of Polish democracy. First, the political institutions work. The army leadership has been immediately replaced by committees in place for this contingency; the Marshal of the Parliament, Bronislaw Komorowski, is now president ex officio; and new presidential elections are being announced for June. There has been no talk of coups, colonels, or emergency measures. Instead, army spokesmen have explicitly denounced the possibility of emergency powers for the military or heightened security stances.
bq. Second, regardless of their political orientation, Polish elites have expressed a common sentiment: they may not have agreed with President Lech Kaczynski, but this is a vast national tragedy and an enormous loss to Polish politics and governance. Personal animosities and political cleavages have been buried, at least for the time being. Given how controversial a figure Lech Kaczynski had become—he was constantly fighting with the parliamentary majority parties, and the debates were bitter—this is no small feat.
bq. ….So what made the difference in Poland? Simply put, institutions—and the presence of political elites that respect those institutions—matter…. Poland has often been criticized for its high levels of electoral volatility. Yet ironically, this very instability has perhaps given Poland´s post-communist democracy what it needed most to get through this crisis: repeated experiences with power peacefully changing hands, and often from people and parties that are not very fond of the people and parties to whom they are transferring power. One of the less-noted features of this crisis is that the presidency—at least temporarily—has passed from the Party of Law and Justice to its primary rival, Civic Platform; this is most definitely not a case of Harry Truman replacing FDR. But the transfer of power has gone smoothly.
“Click here for the rest of the op-ed”:http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/transitions
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Update: “Scott Radnitz”:http://faculty.washington.edu/srad/, another person who contributed a “guest post about Kyrgyzstan”:https://themonkeycage.org/2010/04/how_the_kyrgyz_events_could_ha.html on the Monkey Cage last week, also has a new “Op-Ed at the Seattle Times”:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2011618562_guest16radnitz.html on how Afghanistan offers lessons for the US approach to Kyrgyzstan.