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MOSCOW - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Wednesday he would visit NATO headquarters in Brussels next week to pearl strand attend the first session of the new NATO-Russian Council. NATO declared Russia a limited partner at Tuesday's summit at a military base near Rome, attended by leaders of 19 alliance members and Russia. The new council will have Russia and NATO jointly tackling such issues as crisis management, peacekeeping, search-and-rescue operations and joint exercises. "It's more than just reaching a decision together, it also means that everybody is committed to implementing these decisions together," British Maj. Gen. Peter Williams, head of the newly opened NATO mission in Moscow, said on Echo of Moscow radio Wednesday. Under the biwa pearl new arrangement, NATO and Russia will decide only on those issues on which they can find consensus; more contentious issues will be left off their agenda, and NATO will keep a free hand in setting and implementing policy. Many Russians have remained wary of NATO, created a half-century ago to contain the Soviet Union, and some hard-liners assailed the deal with NATO as just an illusion of closer cooperation - pointing at the fact that Russia will have no right to veto the alliance's decisions. Williams sought to downplay such concerns, saying the new council would work to reach a consensus. "It's a search for consensus, and when there is no consensus, it's not a case of there being a veto, it's a case of there being an absence of consensus," he said. "In NATO we don't have vetoes, we simply have an inability to reach a consensus," Williams said. Ivanov, who spoke to reporters after his talks with Gen. Gustav Hagglund of Finland, chairman of the European Union's permanent Military Committee, didn't comment on the agenda for the first session of the Russia-NATO Council set for next Thursday. Ivanov said he was unaware of any NATO proposals for a joint military operations with Russia in addition to pearl strand wholesale the ongoing peacekeeping missions in the Balkans.

MOSCOW - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Moscow would put aside its opposition to a U.S. military operation against Iraq if Washington provides evidence that Baghdad has weapons of mass destruction. "Moscow's position regarding a military operation against Iraq will depend on the information given to potato pearl us by the American side about Baghdad's possession of weapons of mass destruction," the Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying Wednesday in Washington, where he arrived for talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell. However, he said such information could only be confirmed or disproved "on the spot," according to Interfax and the ITAR-Tass news agency. Iraq surprised the world this week by consenting to invite back United Nations weapons inspectors after a nearly four-year absence. Ivanov said the first group of 43 inspectors would depart for Iraq this week. However, U.N. officials have said arrangements for the return of inspectors would be completed only by Oct. 6. Washington is pushing for a new U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq that would set a deadline for the return of inspectors and threaten consequences if Iraq doesn't cooperate. However, Russia says there is no need for a new resolution and that inspectors could deploy swiftly. Ivanov said that once there, the inspectors could complete their task quickly. "I believe that one month will be enough for the inspectors to determine whether the production of weapons of mass destruction exists in Iraq or not," Interfax and ITAR-Tass quoted him as saying. A former top Russian defense ministry official, retired Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov, predicted Thursday that the United States would launch an attack on Iraq despite opposition from Russia and other countries. Ivashov warned that with the United States taking control over Iraq's oil resources, world oil prices will plummet to twisted pearl necklace the detriment of Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter. The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia's lower parliament house, Dmitry Rogozin, said the return of inspectors to Iraq would not "cancel the U.S. thesis that the regime of Saddam Hussein must be done away with," the Interfax news agency reported. But Rogozin said that if inspectors are able to do their job freely, America's allies will have no reason to support military action. Moscow has long been a strong ally of Baghdad and fears a U.S. strike could threaten its economic interests in Iraq, which owes Moscow dlrs 7 billion in Soviet-era debt. Ivanov, in Washington as part of a series of meetings on security cooperation agreed in May by U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, also defended Russia's cooperation with Iran and North Korea. Those countries, along with Iraq, have been singled out by Bush as an "axis of evil" for their attempts to obtain weapons of mass destruction. Ivanov said that Moscow provides Tehran only with "defensive weapons," including anti-tank weapons, small arms, armored personnel carriers and air defense systems, Interfax reported. "These types of weapons cannot be of a destabilizing character," he said, adding that there had been no talk of supplying offensive weapons to akoya pearl necklace Iran. Regarding North Korea, Ivanov said Russia's military cooperation with that country was a purely economic matter, depending solely "on the economic possibilities of Pyongyang," according to Interfax. "There is no political basis for bilateral cooperation in the military sphere," Ivanov said.

MOSCOW - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday that the United States should abandon its military presence in former Soviet republics in Central Asia once the war in Afghanistan is over and pledged to help strengthen the Afghan army with aircraft and military spare parts. Ivanov said the U.S. troop deployment in Central Asia was necessary for the success of the anti-terrorist operation and "largely positive." But, he added, "we proceed from the assumption that ... these bases are there on a temporary basis and only until the end of the anti-terrorist operation." President Vladimir Putin's decision to freshwater pearl earrings welcome the U.S. troops into Central Asia dramatically bolstered Russia's relations with the United States and other Western countries, but has provoked concern at home. Some representatives of Russia's political elite have voiced fear that the United States might use its military presence to end Russia's sway over the region, which was conquered by the Russian Empire in the 19th century. "I wouldn't raise the degree of our concern to an unnecessarily high level," Ivanov said at a news conference, pointing to statements by U.S. officials who have sought to allay Russia's anxiety by saying that no permanent bases are planned. With Russia's blessing, U.S. troops have been deployed at an air base in Uzbekistan and at an airport in Kyrgyzstan, and other allied forces are expected to move to bases in Tajikistan and Kazakstan. Ivanov said he doesn't expect the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan to end quickly. "The euphoria about crushing the organizational and other structures of the Taliban and al-Qaida is premature," he said. "Many terrorists and their supporters have gone underground but they are still there, alive and well, and will seek a chance to show that." Ivanov, flanked by visiting Afghan Defense Minister Mohammed Fahim, said Russia would help bolster Afghanistan's military capability by providing spare parts for its Soviet-built weapons and other assistance. "We aren't talking about weapons, enough of which have piled up there during 20 years of war, but about organizational assistance, supplies and spare parts," Ivanov said. He added that Russia was also ready to provide training aircraft and transport helicopters for the Afghan air force. Ivanov said that Russia had no immediate plans to send military experts to pearl necklace help train the Afghan army and wasn't seeking to gain any influence there. "We aren't going to enforce our will on anyone, especially as we know the history of Afghanistan quite well," he said. "We will provide assistance only when we are asked for it." Following the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the Kremlin was a key arms supplier for the anti-Taliban forces in the late 1990s. Last year, Moscow supplied an estimated dlrs 34 million worth of Soviet-era weapons to the Afghan forces fighting the Taliban.

There's no quelling the calls for a national idea for Russia – a new concept to replace the lost belief in the radiant communist future. So far, there's been no result, and there's unlikely to be one any time soon, despite the abundance of proposals, including some that are really not bad. But what's difficult isn't finding a national idea, what's difficult is getting society to accept it. Russian society today is divided – to a large extent by the collapse of its old national idea – and it looks like this division will persist for some years to come. Given this situation, proclaiming some new idea the common national goal won't be easy. It would probably be possible to pearl necklace come closer to this aim if the state drew up a motivated system of policy priorities that would be comprehensible to all. Let's look at the main issues that could become a basis for this choice of priorities. • In Russia, there are 4 million people without a roof over their heads. Most of these people are refugees and people forced to move. • Around 30 percent of the Russian population – 40-45 million people – have incomes lower than the living minimum. • The number of Russians killed as a result of accidents, poisonings and traumatic injuries could exceed 300,000 this year. Per 100,000 people, this statistic is one of the highest in the world and is growing fast. Every three hours on average, as many people die from unnatural causes as were killed in the Kursk submarine disaster. • Life expectancy in Russia is around 10 years behind that of industrially developed countries. • Russia has the highest number of prisoners in the world. • Over the last few years, Russia has lost its greatest social achievements of the 20th century – free and accessible education and health care – neither today are accessible without partial or full payment. • After the collapse of the Soviet Union, more than 20 million ethnic Russians have found themselves outside Russia. Many of them are not happy with their situation in the former Soviet republics and would like to move to Russia, but they can't afford to do so. At the same time, Russia needs immigrants to compensate for a falling birthrate and increasing depopulation. • Dozens of towns and thousands of villages don't have sewerage systems. The medieval state of their sanitary infrastructure leads to outbreaks of dangerous diseases. Tuberculosis, which was once considered beaten, has reached epidemic proportions, while cases of viral hepatitis have increased and so have cases of AIDS. Add to freshwater pearl earrings this the war in Chechnya, which has now become a partisan war, making it difficult to see how it will end. Also on the list would have to be the $150 billion foreign debt which cripples the Russian economy. Then there is the worn-out state of technology and constructions, which systematically leads to accidents with loss of life. And there's the sorry plight of the scientific and technical potential created in the past – it's impossible to keep it all as it was, but it would be a terrible loss to see it all go. Much more could be added to this list. But it already contains enough points to show that the essential problems facing Russia differ from those that occupy the authorities and take up the public's attention. People argue until they're foaming at the mouth about restoring the statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky toppled in 1991, or about a new national anthem, though the current one was adopted not so long ago. There's an ongoing fight to limit governors' powers and beef up the authority of the seven "governor-generals." Passions rage over ownership rights of some TV companies. It would be unfair to say the government isn't doing anything important and desperately needed. It is doing plenty that is useful. Getting through a deficit-free budget for 2001, attempts to reduce the foreign debt, raising pensions, tax reform and important decisions on military reform are all steps that will bring Russia closer to the economic conditions that will overcome poverty and resolve many social problems. But at the same time, there are problems that society and the state so stubbornly ignore, raising the question as to whether they don't notice these problems because they don't want to notice them. This goes for the difficult situation of refugees, creating incentives to attract immigrants to Russia, the very high mortality rate, especially from unnatural causes, and many other issues. In defense of the authorities, one could say that their efforts to strengthen the state and bring order – as people love to akoya pearl necklace say in Russia – are supposed to ensure the very conditions that will enable these priority tasks to be solved. If only this could be believed. All too often we see officials whose tireless efforts in strengthening the state lead one to think that they're not so much strengthening the state as strengthening their own power and making themselves less accountable to society. They're ready to spend an eternity doing this, while the time will never come for state officials to tackle the real problems facing Russia.

An article by Jim Collins of Management Research Laboratory in Colorado in January's Harvard Business Review takes a rather innovative look at leadership styles and qualities in business. It rejects the idea that business leaders must be larger-than-life figures – currently in fashion – and advocates humility and modesty. Since Lee Iacocca's divine descent, CEOs have put greater effort into casting themselves as Hollywood-style icons than as managers and corporate movers. As company chiefs earn hundreds of millions in salaries and share options, they have come to twisted pearl necklace think of themselves as macho figures – a fact typified by Disney's recent sacking its CEO after his first 17 months: After getting fired, the guy still bagged more than $70 million in compensation. There are some exceptions, of course. Some CEOs take responsibility for their company's actions and failures. Last year, for instance, in the United States, when defective Bridgestone tires caused many accidents with Ford Explorers, the chairman of Ford Motor Co. took to the airwaves to reinforce consumer confidence and accept some of the blame. Similarly, when United Airlines pilots forced the cancellation of thousands of flights during the holiday season, its CEO went public to apologize. But these are rare acts. CEOs in today's world bask in the spotlight of good times and hide inside their corporate castles when things go sour. These days, corporate chiefs prefer glamour to grit. • Psychology In his article, Collins explores the psychology of leadership and concludes that humble, behind-the-scenes players are more effective than those who are too busy polishing their own images. Those who pat themselves on the back for public displays of toughness are often too distracted by their own reflections to be good managers. Or, as Collins puts it: "It's hard to imagine a good business leader thinking, ‘Hey, that Rambo character reminds me of me.'" This case may be even more acute in Russia, where the gangster-image has particular appeal. For instance, I recently sat through a meeting to restructure a multimillion-dollar loan granted by a Western consortium to a Russian company. The crux of the matter was that the Russians had defaulted. Yet, the Russian bankers showed up in their Armani suits, and I calculated that if we could just strip them naked and sell their jackets and ties, we could pay at least one year's interest on the loan. Last year, when my company organized the first-ever forum bringing together Russian legislators and foreign CEOs, more lawmakers showed up than one usually sees in the State Duma. After a day of intense discussion, interaction and debate, it was obvious that short notice and lack of organization had left some people exhausted. At the end of the meeting, I took the microphone, thanked the moderator (my good friend Vladimir Ryzhkov – out of favor nowadays for being in opposition to potato pearl the Kremlin) and made a personal apology for the shortcomings, taking all the blame myself. While the foreign CEOs smiled benevolently, a well-meaning Russian CEO approached me with a look of horror on his face. "Whatever you do, never take the blame for someone else's mistake," he told me. I found it hard to explain to him that, as a CEO, that is precisely what you do. The job of a CEO, a true business leader, is to set up successors for even more greatness. Only people with personal complexes and unfulfilled ambitions would try to shine through a company event and try to overshadow subordinates. A true business leader must come forward when it is time to take the blame and put his team forward when the petals are showered. Collins is absolutely correct when he concludes that some of the most important attributes of leadership are modesty, shunning public adulation and never being boastful. In Russia, businessmen should take particular note of this. After all, this is a country where a CEO can get killed or become the target of extortion – unless, of course, he's also a hood. True, there are many business leaders here made of talent, knowledge and good working habits. Of late, I've come across a growing number of Russian self-made entrepreneurs and CEOs who are highly disciplined, focused and maintain a high standard of conduct. They can claim a place among the world's enlightened business elites and deserve every dollar on their expense accounts and platinum cards (which, I might note, are not issued in Western Samoa or the Bahamas, but by legitimate banks in New York or the City of London.) But they make up a small proportion of the Russian business community. Nevertheless, one common trait unites most of them – arrogance. • National traits Inasmuch as national traits filter into business practices, take a look at CEOs of Indian origin as a counterexample. Natural humility plays an important role there. Indians have a powerful diaspora today, but its most prosperous members are often the most quiet. Vinod Khosla, recently named the greatest venture capitalist on the planet by Forbes and Red Herring magazines, is as quiet as a Rolls Royce engine. With none of the fanfare and glamour associated with wealth, one could be in the presence of an Indian billionaire and hardly notice his presence. It is surprising how many of them there are out there. In Santa Clara in Silicon Valley, an Indian entrepreneur, Kanwal Rekhi (net worth more than $300 million), started a club that is now a common meeting place for business people and managers of Indian ethnicity. After one such meeting, a shocked American industry insider whispered to me, "Do you know how much wealth was in that room just now; I just counted a net total worth of $5 billion!" Yet it was a quiet, modest gathering that had the sobriety of an Indian temple or prayer meeting. I once had a discussion about the importance of humility in business with Scott Blacklin, the former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia. He asked me why I thought many Indians, despite their impoverished backgrounds, did so well. "For the same reason Gandhi stood up to pearl strand wholesale Churchill," I said. "Because they are fiercely competitive and humble. People underestimate them because of their unthreatening demeanor and looks. They mistake their humility for weakness, while many of them have enormous hidden talents and leadership skills." Blacklin agreed while accepting my invitation to speak at a forum. A week later, at the forum, a thousand guests waited as Blacklin's name was repeatedly announced. It turns out he had never showed. He never bothered to explain why, and many guests and speakers still remember that one act of arrogance on his part, forgetting all other talents and skills he's displayed. • Meanwhile … In this same spirit, I have to admit that not only have I received plenty of anonymous hate mail and messages of support, but also some very well-meaning advice from readers and businesspeople about our advertisements concerning the Moscow Times. First, I thank all those who have written or made their opinions known. I have to admit that the ad, one of many planned, which points out that the daily newspaper publishes month-old stories, was probably not really needed. Readers are intelligent enough to see such things for themselves. And, in an information drought, people have no choice but to pick-up whatever crap the only English-language daily in town throws at them. I have been asked to make a better case exposing the Times and its parent company – especially about the unfair business practices and bare-knuckle tactics the Times has used against us – rather than publishing negative ads. As many of you will notice, we've withdrawn the ad and we shall focus our firepower on the kind of stories that have rattled the snake pit. As for those sending hate mail, I only have two things to say: a) They are not hard to trace and b) Thank you, and I hope you like the fireworks that are about to come. *** I am flattered that so many readers have actually liked my column. Such support is welcome, given that one of my former Australian colleagues thinks that I should be shot for my atrocious English and never be allowed anywhere near the paper. To pearl strand answer one reader's queries: No, I don't have an Ivy School degree in management; no, I have no literary education. In fact, I am barely literate and I write this column in 15 minutes flat. In all humility, I must say that I alone take credit for its brilliance. The blame for anything that is wrong must go to my copy editor, Raffi. His e-mail address is raffik@russiajournal.com, and please direct your anger toward him.

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