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[HCDX] A day at Radio Free Europe
A day at Radio Free Europe
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=87573
The Radio Free Europe conference helped highlight common values
between Muslims and Westerners. Many more efforts are needed, of
course, to bridge the gap between the two. This time there is no 'iron
curtain' separating people with walls, but there are curtains, for sure, in
many minds
MUSTAFA AKYOL
PRAGUE - Turkish Daily News
The Cold War years had a taste of their own. The globe divided
between the ?free world? and the communist block was a perfect stage
for spooks, and, of course, novels and movies about them.
The adventures of secret agents, double agents, and all the masters
of espionage were mind-blowing. Yet the whole scene ended in 1989
when the Berlin Wall came down and the Brandenburg Gate turned
from the sinister symbol of a divided city into a mere tourist attraction.
Even Her Majesty's most alluring spy, James Bond, would lose much of
his charm with the end of the Cold War.
A less stylish yet more influential actor of that bygone epoch was
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), America's most effective
channel for reaching out to the peoples of the communist countries.
Based in the southern German city of Munich, the ?CIA mouthpiece,? as
the Soviets preferred to call it, aired the case for ?freedom? in the native
languages of at least a dozen European ?democratic republics,? and,
the mother of them all, Soviet Russia. In these countries trapped by the
?iron curtain,? subversive citizens who were fed up with hearing the
fables of their powerful comrades such as Khrushchev or Brejnev used
to tune their centrally planned and thus inevitably unsound radios to the
voice of RFE/RL. Yet they had to be very, very cautious. Listening to
the American channel could constitute a major crime.
Prague's real spring:
The collapse of communism came, obviously, as a victory for RFE/RL.
Yet it also raised questions on whether it should continue to exist. As
the current president of the organization, Jeffrey Gedmin, notes, three
different views emerged in Washington. Some said the anti-communist
radio had done its job and had to be laid to rest. Others thought it would
be necessary during the ?transitional period? of Europe from socialism
to democratic capitalism. The third view was that ?new challenges?
could emerge soon and thus the radio had to stay. Soon, the third view
would turn out to be right.
RFE/RL started the post-communist era with a bold shift. It moved its
offices from Munich to Prague. The new pro-American government of
the latter had offered a venue that was hard to discard: The defunct
parliament building of the former Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The
move of the ?CIA mouthpiece? to the home of a communist assembly
was perhaps even more symbolic as the famous Red Army flag waived
on the German Reichstag in April 1945. Hammers and sickles were
gone, and now were replaced by the stars and stripes. Communism
was dead and even its graveyard was claimed by its main enemy.
That new headquarters of the RFE/RL is right in the center of Prague.
And with its huge size and amorphous shape, along with the rusty and
ugly metal monument that stands in front of it, the building suggests
that ?socialist aesthetics? might well be a contradiction in terms. That
becomes painfully obvious especially when contrasted with the
breathtaking beauty of the Czech capital, in which most of the old
buildings, especially the gorgeous ones like the baroque-style Grand
Museum that stands right next to RFE/RL, are masterpieces of art.
A mini UN:
What the RFE/RL does in the post-communist world seems to be
?advancing liberty? this time not in Europe but many other regions of the
world. The ex-Soviet Republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus
apparently constitute a major goal for the radio. The RFE/RL is also
much focused on the Muslim world, and there are sections focused on
Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Bosnia and many more Islamic countries. With
such a diverse team, the whole building looks like a mini United
Nations. The 500 or so employees speak, besides English, languages
that you have probably never heard.
Two days ago, a conference that focused on the gap between Muslim
and Western societies was held in the RFE/RL. Supported by the
Czech government, the American Embassy, Germany's Konrad
Adenauer Foundation and the Prague Civic Institute, the conference
brought together speakers from various countries to discuss the topic,
?What Unites and What Divides Us: Tough Questions for Islam and the
West.? After a full day of intense discussion chaired by Joyce Davis, an
expert on the Middle East and associate director of broadcasting at
RFE/RL, what appeared as the most interesting outcome was the
realization of a mutual fear: Both in the West and the Muslim world,
there is a perception of being attacked by the other side. Some
Muslims suspect that the West is ?leading a war on Islam.? On the other
hand some Westerners think that there is a mass Muslim effort to
?occupy? and dominate Western civilization. And both of these camps
think ?their guys? are just on the defensive.
The RFE/RL conference helped in understanding those mutual fears ?
and also common values between Muslims and Westerners. Many
more efforts are needed, of course, to bridge the gap between the two.
This time there is no ?iron curtain? separating people with walls, but
there are curtains, for sure, in many minds.
http://zlgr.multiply.com (raidio monitoring site plus audio clips )
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/302315/ (Litohoro) 321199/Tinos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachgr pictures upload
.
on my main : www.geocities.com/zliangas
-tty-px.html : test of various TTY programs
-ethics.htm : greek ethics , days and institutions
-frape.htm: the greek way of cofee !!!
Zacharias Liangas , Thessaloniki Greece
greekdx @ otenet dot gr ---
Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75 , Lowe HF150 , Degen 1102,1103,108,
Tecsun PL200/550, Chibo c300/c979, Yupi 7000
Antenna: 16m hor, 2x16 m V invert, 1m australian loop
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