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[Third Issue of the Day]
#7
New York Times
January 10, 2002
Letter
The Civic Spirit Is Alive in Russia
To the Editor:
As someone who has spent the last 10 years in Siberia, supporting civil society development, I disagree with "Russia's Leaders Are Different. It's the People Who Are the Same" (Week in Review, Jan. 6). Citizens are becoming active, and partnerships between government and nongovernmental organizations exist in many regions.
Last summer, I served on a committee to select Siberian entrepreneurs for internships. Compared with two years ago, the growth in numbers and professionalism was stunning.
The "tangled ball of thread" that you use to characterize democracy in Russia is no more or less complicated than the developmental challenges facing any democracy. Corruption is one of the issues being addressed; another is the widening gap between rich and poor. No one has "cast the ball of thread aside." On the contrary, an increasing number of Russian citizens are taking the ball and running with it. SARAH LINDEMANN-KOMAROVA Novosibirsk, Russia, Jan. 7, 2002
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