Center for Citizen Initiatives

Bringing Russian and American citizens together in Peace since 1983.

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Come to Russia with CCI via “Foto/Diaries”!

Dear Friends,

We are a month away from CCI’s next citizen-diplomacy “signature” trip to Russia. It departs August 30. We believe in more contact, not less … especially when both sides have weapons of mass destruction aimed at each other. While official levels are having very little interaction, it behooves us as citizens to have as much contact as possible on the ground––we need to discuss the deepest of issues between us and then share this information as widely as possible.

We plan to bring you along with us by daily emails––including ‘Foto/Diaries’ of what we are experiencing across Russia, hoping you will pass along this information to your friends, colleagues, families and Congress members. A videographer will accompany us for each segment of travel. A range of YouTube videos will be available shortly after we return home.

Our primary objective in Moscow is to hear from and question eight expert presenters: President Mikhail Gorbachev, Vladimir Pozner, Vladimir Kozin, Andrey Kortunov, Chris Weafer, Dmitry Babich and a couple more that are yet to be confirmed. We will video them all to share with you.  We will see traditional sites before leaving the capital city.

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Citizen Diplomacy: A Critical Need in 2019

Dear CCI Friends,

Please excuse my absence in reporting during these days surrounding the Trump-Putin Summit.  It was critical to take “time out” to re-energize. In order to continue with my increasingly unmanageable workload, I’ve hired CCI’s first staff person since 2009. Maddelyn Bryan, a recent graduate from the University of San Francisco joined CCI on July 1 to train with me as CCI increases its programmatic work beyond what we’ve done during the past ten years.

CCI, to my knowledge, is the only organization in the field of citizen diplomacy between the US and Russia that has remained intact and working since the beginning of the 1980s. By the end of the ‘80s, other organizations closed their doors. We switched from plain goodwill travel programs to training young Russians how to survive in the radically different conditions of the 1990s. This was when the new Russia literally fell apart.

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The Making of the Enemy

Dear CCI Friends,

It is 4 am. I awakened this morning from jet lag in a gated community of private homes on the West Coast.

Swirling around in my mind was, “The Making of the Enemy,” a phrase of past decades. It has never seemed more relevant to me than now.

I had watched the gradual making of “Russia as the enemy” since 2001, although I didn’t register the significance of what I was seeing at the time. I just thought that George Bush, et al, needed to be educated regarding Russia. At first it was mild criticism, then it was blaming, then rejection, demeaning and demonizing along with distancing, ignoring and acting as if Russia didn’t matter … as if Russia and Russians have no significance at all. Strange since it’s the largest country in the world and laden with subsoil riches.

Last evening, an event celebrating the graduation of my grandson was held in their spacious family home in Oregon. Teenagers and friends in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s gathered to acknowledge Sean, a straight A student.

In the clatter of happy voices, one could hardly hear people next to oneself. I chose a sofa on the edge of the room where guests next to me turned out to be local lawyers. Someone mentioned that I had just returned from Russia last night. The lawyer nearest me immediately spouted with drawn face, “What about the disturbances at the World Cup competitions underway?” [Continue Reading]

Away from Office – Taking Sister Cities International Group to Russia

Dear Friends,

I am leaving on May 27th for Russia, taking a Sister Cities International group of officers and volunteers. Our program will be packed and there will be little time to scan or respond to emails.

If you are inquiring about CCI’s August 30 – September 15 trip to ten regions of Russia, please contact Sylvia Demarest at smdranchtexas@sbcglobal.net.

I will return on June 15. For anything of immediate importance, please continue to be in touch.

All the best,

Sharon (signature)
Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

Waiting Out the Potential Strike On Syria

Midnight, April 13, 2018: I arrived home from Washington, D.C. with deep apprehensions regarding whether we as a nation, a world, a planet will make it through the dangerous turnstile in which we find ourselves.

Mood in Washington, April 8 – 13: The immediate possibility of war between Syria and Russia was on TV screens in hotel lobbies and congressional waiting rooms, and tensions were felt behind closed doors in nearly every meeting. It felt like our capital was completely “locked down.” No one wanted to mention their positions on current issues. I’d never before experienced the city like this.

Simultaneously, young families visiting Washington were innocently enjoying historic monuments, etc. In impromptu inquiries, I asked if they were paying attention to politics and got nonchalant answers back. Apparently they were unaware of the current situation. How could they not be aware? Maybe they view TV news as hyped up fictional TV programs? What a disconnect!

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