This first ran in Central Europe Review on 13 September 1999. This wasn't the first time I wrote about how the Internet was occupying the position in Czech society that samizdat once did, but it's one of the earliest I can now find online. There's some kind of irony in that, I realise...
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Independent media are essential for democracy. Citizens need access to information from the widest possible sources, and journalists must investigate matters and report them intelligently, so that society can make informed decisions. Freedom of information and professional journalists are even more important for a country shaking off the fetters of totalitarian rule.
Unfortunately, the media in the Czech Republic often do not fulfil this lofty role.
Monday, 13 September 1999
The Czech Republic 1992 to 1999: From unintentional political birth to prolonged political crisis
I wrote this long, comprehensive text with the help of Jan Culik, Steven Saxonberg and Kazi Stastna for publication in Central Europe Review on 13 September 1999. It was quite an undertaking, covering a broad sweep of current history up to spring 1999, and I've been asked several times in the years since to update it. No thanks.
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The Czech Republic was born on 1 January 1993. To understand its development since then, this article presents a brief historical survey of the past six years, a time that was dominated by one man: Vaclav Klaus.
The Klaus era: "Communism in reverse"
Vaclav Klaus was Prime Minister from 1992 to 1997. Under his rule, especially in the early years, the atmosphere in Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic could be characterised, with only a little exaggeration, as "Communism in reverse." Klaus presented himself to the Czechs and to the international public as a highly experienced economist with a reliable and competent plan how to privatise state property and how to quickly bring about economic prosperity in the Czech Republic.
Klaus saw himself as a right-wing politician, as a follower of Margaret Thatcher. He persuaded much of the Czech public and almost all of the Czech media that there was no alternative to his economic reform programme. Whoever tried to question this was an enemy--an unreconstructed Communist or a socialist "jeopardising the fragile Czechoslovak democracy and wanting a return to pre-89 days." For much of the time when Klaus was in office, most of the Czech media followed his line slavishly.
There was little unencumbered public debate. The Czech public was happy to have what they saw as a strong, competent and confident leader, who would solve all their problems for them and lead them into Paradise. (see also "The Czech Media: Fulfilling their role?")
This intolerant, post-Communist model started to crumble after the June 1996 general election, when Klaus's government failed to win an outright majority. Serious economic problems were apparent by 1997, and the whole Klausian programme became discredited by lawlessness, banking and financial scandals.
Before we look in detail at the Klaus-dominated early years of the Czech Republic, however, it will be useful to outline the final chapter of Czechoslovakia.
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The Czech Republic was born on 1 January 1993. To understand its development since then, this article presents a brief historical survey of the past six years, a time that was dominated by one man: Vaclav Klaus.
The Klaus era: "Communism in reverse"
Vaclav Klaus was Prime Minister from 1992 to 1997. Under his rule, especially in the early years, the atmosphere in Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic could be characterised, with only a little exaggeration, as "Communism in reverse." Klaus presented himself to the Czechs and to the international public as a highly experienced economist with a reliable and competent plan how to privatise state property and how to quickly bring about economic prosperity in the Czech Republic.
Klaus saw himself as a right-wing politician, as a follower of Margaret Thatcher. He persuaded much of the Czech public and almost all of the Czech media that there was no alternative to his economic reform programme. Whoever tried to question this was an enemy--an unreconstructed Communist or a socialist "jeopardising the fragile Czechoslovak democracy and wanting a return to pre-89 days." For much of the time when Klaus was in office, most of the Czech media followed his line slavishly.
There was little unencumbered public debate. The Czech public was happy to have what they saw as a strong, competent and confident leader, who would solve all their problems for them and lead them into Paradise. (see also "The Czech Media: Fulfilling their role?")
This intolerant, post-Communist model started to crumble after the June 1996 general election, when Klaus's government failed to win an outright majority. Serious economic problems were apparent by 1997, and the whole Klausian programme became discredited by lawlessness, banking and financial scandals.
Before we look in detail at the Klaus-dominated early years of the Czech Republic, however, it will be useful to outline the final chapter of Czechoslovakia.
Wednesday, 27 January 1999
Radical Right Revival
This article originally appeared in The Prague Post on 27 January 1999.
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After a humiliating defeat in last summer's general election, the Czech Republican leader Miroslav Sladek is down and probably out of politics. For the past several months, his party has been splitting along personality lines, and new factions are forming around different leaders with similar ideas. Despite the apparent disarray on the radical Right, the political movement still has strong potential in the Czech Republic due to the current, deteriorating situation in the country. A new radical Right is slowly taking shape, and it will likely find success in being more slick and media-savvy than the crude days of the bumbling Sladek.
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After a humiliating defeat in last summer's general election, the Czech Republican leader Miroslav Sladek is down and probably out of politics. For the past several months, his party has been splitting along personality lines, and new factions are forming around different leaders with similar ideas. Despite the apparent disarray on the radical Right, the political movement still has strong potential in the Czech Republic due to the current, deteriorating situation in the country. A new radical Right is slowly taking shape, and it will likely find success in being more slick and media-savvy than the crude days of the bumbling Sladek.
Thursday, 1 October 1998
A School Unlike Any Other
On 1 September 1998, a new school opened up in the city of Kolín in Bohemia. In marked contrast to other educational institutions in the Czech Republic, this one aimed to be Roma-friendly. In fact, the Romani High School for Social Affairs was the first secondary school in the country established by and for Roma. Local Czechs looked on suspiciously, while others asked if this new school heralded the development of a Roma elite in the Czech Republic or provided a means of self-segregation that simply confirmed the inability of the two groups to live together. This piece first appeared in The New Presence, a Czech/English monthly where I was editor, in October 1998, and then it was republished in a number of places throughout Central Europe.
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"This is a completely normal school," says Doctor Tluchorova.
As the educational director of the new Romani High School for Social Affairs in the Central Bohemian town of Kolín, Tluchorova is trying hard to present the school's best image. We sit in the staff room of the new school, as her office is still a jumble of paint cans and building tools. Everything in the building smells of drying paint and carpet adhesive.
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"This is a completely normal school," says Doctor Tluchorova.
As the educational director of the new Romani High School for Social Affairs in the Central Bohemian town of Kolín, Tluchorova is trying hard to present the school's best image. We sit in the staff room of the new school, as her office is still a jumble of paint cans and building tools. Everything in the building smells of drying paint and carpet adhesive.
Wednesday, 26 August 1998
Jizvy po normalizaci se nezhojily
This article, looking at Czech attitudes toward the 30th anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, originally appeared in the Czech daily Slovo on 26 August 1998.
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Tak minulo vzpomínání na třicáté výročí Sověty vedené invaze do Československa. Zde v Praze se výročí připomínalo výstavami, zvláštními pořady v televizi a jedinečnými přílohami novin. Přesto se však zdá, že si lidé nebyli jisti, co si o tom všem mají myslet.
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Tak minulo vzpomínání na třicáté výročí Sověty vedené invaze do Československa. Zde v Praze se výročí připomínalo výstavami, zvláštními pořady v televizi a jedinečnými přílohami novin. Přesto se však zdá, že si lidé nebyli jisti, co si o tom všem mají myslet.
Thursday, 19 March 1998
Kosovo Shows What Divides Europe Today
This article appeared in both Czech and English in Britské listy on 19 March 1998, and then it ended up in various forms in Central European outlets like Prostor, Svobodné slovo and the Hungarian magazine Beszélő.
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At London University's School for Slavonic and East European Studies on Wednesday evening, a roundtable discussion was held on the subject of Kosovo. Seated on the panel and in the audience of perhaps 150, were not just dusty academics but also diplomats and activists highly involved in the issue.
Speakers included the Albanian ambassador in London, the director of the London Kosovo Crisis Centre (a lobbying initiative), BBC correspondents, an official from the UK foreign office and the former British ambassador to Belgrade. The panel was admittedly lopsided because the invited Serb representatives declined their invitations, but that hardly prevented the conversation breaking out into a boisterous argument.
Its true that everyone in the room agreed that the situation in Kosovo was desperate, and everyone agreed that Belgrade's intransigence was the major barrier to solving the problem. Everyone in the room who opened his or her mouth noted the parallels between Bosnia in 1990-1 and Kosovo today. Still, a heated argument took place, and several speakers eventually left in a huff.
Right from the beginning, as speaker after speaker made his or her points, the seeds of the disagreement were sown, and it was clear to this observer that two sides were clearly lining up for a strong debate during the following question period.
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At London University's School for Slavonic and East European Studies on Wednesday evening, a roundtable discussion was held on the subject of Kosovo. Seated on the panel and in the audience of perhaps 150, were not just dusty academics but also diplomats and activists highly involved in the issue.
Speakers included the Albanian ambassador in London, the director of the London Kosovo Crisis Centre (a lobbying initiative), BBC correspondents, an official from the UK foreign office and the former British ambassador to Belgrade. The panel was admittedly lopsided because the invited Serb representatives declined their invitations, but that hardly prevented the conversation breaking out into a boisterous argument.
Its true that everyone in the room agreed that the situation in Kosovo was desperate, and everyone agreed that Belgrade's intransigence was the major barrier to solving the problem. Everyone in the room who opened his or her mouth noted the parallels between Bosnia in 1990-1 and Kosovo today. Still, a heated argument took place, and several speakers eventually left in a huff.
Right from the beginning, as speaker after speaker made his or her points, the seeds of the disagreement were sown, and it was clear to this observer that two sides were clearly lining up for a strong debate during the following question period.
Wednesday, 11 March 1998
A Tribal State
This originally appeared in both Czech and English in Britské listy on 11 March 1998, and a few days later in the Czech daily Slovo. It's important to note that Germany reformed its nationality law in 1999, making it a bit easier for people to claim citizenship based on birthplace.
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Before his flight to Poland, Czech President Václav Havel made several interesting comments in front of reporters, and his most intriguing words concerned Czech racism and EU entry. The country had to decide, he said, whether it wanted a "tribal state" or if it wanted to choose a democratic path which respected the rights of minorities. According to Havel, only the latter would bring the Czech Republic in line with the EU.
It would be nice if this were true, but in reality, the EU is far from a paradise of racial and ethnic harmony. Leaving aside the more bloody examples of Northern Ireland and the Basque region for the moment, it is clear that many countries in the EU have serious problems with racism not only in society at large but also in their legal systems. Germany is a perfect example.
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Before his flight to Poland, Czech President Václav Havel made several interesting comments in front of reporters, and his most intriguing words concerned Czech racism and EU entry. The country had to decide, he said, whether it wanted a "tribal state" or if it wanted to choose a democratic path which respected the rights of minorities. According to Havel, only the latter would bring the Czech Republic in line with the EU.
It would be nice if this were true, but in reality, the EU is far from a paradise of racial and ethnic harmony. Leaving aside the more bloody examples of Northern Ireland and the Basque region for the moment, it is clear that many countries in the EU have serious problems with racism not only in society at large but also in their legal systems. Germany is a perfect example.
Friday, 21 February 1997
Ladislav Holý, The Little Czech and the Great Czech Nation
This is a book review I wrote early in 1997 for what was then the "Britské listy" section of Neviditelný pes, together really the original online news and comment outlet in Czech. (Britské listy parted ways with Neviditelný pes not long after.) I was amazed at the feedback this piece received -- obviously the article had touched a nerve among Czechs, who weren't too keen to examine their nationalism very deeply. Looking back on it, I would say that I was very lucky to meet Ladislav Holý just after this was published and only a short time before he died. He probably taught me more about the nature of Czech identity than anyone, helping me crystalise the muddle of thoughts I had about the place and its people after years of living there.
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Češi mají sami na sebe značně paradoxní názor. Zeptáte-li se jich, co si myslí o jiných Češích, budou je charakterizovat výrazy jako závistivost, konformnost, úzkoprsost a nesnášenlivost (str. 76). Požádejte je však, aby charakterizovali český národ, a uslyšíte slova jako: vysoce kulturní, hluboce demokratický, čistý.
Vysvětlit tento paradox je jedním z hlavních témat nové knihy Ladislava Holého The Little Czech and the Great Czech Nation.
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Češi mají sami na sebe značně paradoxní názor. Zeptáte-li se jich, co si myslí o jiných Češích, budou je charakterizovat výrazy jako závistivost, konformnost, úzkoprsost a nesnášenlivost (str. 76). Požádejte je však, aby charakterizovali český národ, a uslyšíte slova jako: vysoce kulturní, hluboce demokratický, čistý.
Vysvětlit tento paradox je jedním z hlavních témat nové knihy Ladislava Holého The Little Czech and the Great Czech Nation.
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