Dear CCI Followers,

Our COVID lockdown seems to be opening up some priceless introspections in many of us––those that previously were tightly locked in place. The longer the virus continues, the more it causes us to evaluate what and who we really are, to look at the reasons for our societal indifferences and malaise for so long, and all importantly… the unwillingness of our leaders and institutions to give up their seats and bring up those with younger mentality to lead our nation.

Julius Krein forces us to take a look at these factors, even to see ourselves as the Soviet Union when it was in decline. Might this be one of the reasons why some, particularly our leaders, are so frightened of Vladimir Putin? As a 50-to-60 year old decision maker, Putin doesn’t diagnose or handle international relations in a way that our older leaders understand. Putin encourages a “multi-polar” world, not a unipolar world to which we are accustomed and continue to force on our allies through NATO.

As an Octogenarian, I welcome the changes that appear to be surfacing. Fortunately CCI’s chief supporters are two or three decades younger than I am. I see great need in replacing myself! How to do this is another question. But it must happen sooner than later! More to follow.

I believe change is ahead.

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To CCI Followers,

Regarding my latest email to you on Saturday, we  have received a number of great responses and hope to get more. Thank you so much. These ideas will be in a future “share-all,” using your cities or states for attribution. So please continue sending them!

I also received an email from a correspondent questioning my use of  “vehemently” when mentioning my adult children’s responses to Biden and Trump. I vaguely recall Googling the word to check the different meanings and somehow took it to mean “fervently” or some variant thereof.

My children aren’t on the CCI list, so this is not an issue for them. However, the lesson for me is to be more careful about the words I use. As for my kids, they have felt fervently about one candidate or the other, but to my knowledge there have been no disagreements among them. They likely value their relationships more than being concerned about each others’ political positions.

As for our CCI pieces, we strive to use language honestly and precisely. There are far too many cases of intentional and obvious “un-truthfulness” in today’s reporting, even in The New York Times and other major mainstream media. It is obligatory for us at CCI to tell the truth as far as we can determine it.

We have a near unique history being at ground zero in Russia from 1983 forward to today. We listened as ordinary Soviets shared their hardships and politics in the former USSR, then developed business training to help them survive during Yeltsin’s devastating 1990’s, followed in the 2000’s by even larger training programs for the emerging Russia with Putin at the helm. Today we are Zooming amid COVID and the evolving/devolving U.S.-Russia relationship. We passed CCI’s 37th Anniversary on September 16th.  When our original group of citizen investigators took off to meet the “enemy” in 1983, we planned only one trip … and could have never imagined what the future would hold!

Thank you for your feedback today and during these challenging months ahead.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

Noon, November 7, 2020

Dear CCI Friends,

Thankfully, the 2020 election is over! Never have our two political parties gone after each other in such a mean-spirited manner!

Surprisingly, TV commentators on both sides are asking the right questions and seem to be trying to assure a modicum of goodwill toward each other. This is heartwarming!

Our nation is about equally split with both Biden and Trump supporters. Somehow we must find cooperative ways to work together in the coming months.

It will require each of us to become bridges with one another. How can we do this? It would be great to get ideas from hundreds of you CCI followers about how we can rise above partisanship in the days and weeks ahead. Many families are split on the Trump-Biden philosophies and methodologies. My four adult children don’t discuss these issues amongst themselves. Two vehemently support Biden, two clearly support Trump. They are educated, successful Americans. I sit in the middle as the only one who “wrote in” my choice of candidate months ago.

As one who didn’t vote for either party, I see many things that we can do to bring about collaboration in the days ahead. Many of today’s front runners will be too old to run in 2024. We need to think seriously about our collective future and give space to the Millennials and Generations X and Z.

Spokespersons in the international community recently have noted that today’s leadership in America looks like the Soviet Union’s last tranche of Kremlin leaders. They had been in power for decades and had crystalized into positions that were no longer relevant to the future of their people. We can work toward making space for our “Gorbachev era”! Actually, I think one or two such persons are in the offing. They are quite different from Biden or Trump.

If you send insights, we will print them! “How can we work in our environment to shift current attitudes for the better?” or “What is needed next for our nation?” (with or without attribution, of course).

The warmest of wishes to each of you!

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

Dear CCI Friends,

Once more we hoped the New Start Treaty would be extended for a year. Once again the hope of curtailing nuclear weapons and lessening the prospect of nuclear war has been dashed. Why our U.S. leaders insist that China should be in this deal is inconceivable to me. They were never included previously and have few such weapons compared to the United States and Russia. Natylie Baldwin has allowed us to send you her discussion about this issue.

BTW, I’m reading Natylie’s latest book, The View from Moscow: Understanding Russia … and U.S.-Russia Relations, and I highly recommend it. Natylie’s lyrical manner of writing engages the reader. She starts in the 10th century with Russia’s earliest history and moves forward through nearly 400 pages, which include some 385 references from experts, in case you want to investigate one aspect or another for more information. This book is a perfect read for newcomers to Russia’s long historic past which is still so important to ordinary Russians walking the streets of their 11 time zones. Unlike Americans, Russians have absorbed their history all of their lives. It is in their fables and early education. Russian history continues to be an integral part of each school year of their education up to and including university level. For 75 years they were all taught from the same text books. As a nation they know and feel intimately a part of their history. We really have no comparable sense of our history.

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Dear CCI Followers,

Numerous VIP’s have written great pieces commemorating the passing of our mentor, Dr. Stephen F. Cohen. This latest is by Katrina vanden Heuvel, Steve’s wife and life partner, who gives her inside remembrance of Steve’s passion to understand Russia’s long and tortuous history and where it leads us up to today.

This interview with Katrina by Aaron Mate of The Grayzone is particularly important in that she relates how meticulously Steve researched Russia’s USSR years. He was an insider delving into the decades leading up to and then including Gorbachev, Yeltsin and finally Putin. Katrina is full of insights regarding Steve’s efforts to provide truth in a milieu where reporters and even academics have not spoken out publicly. She gives Ambassador Jack Matlock special appreciation for speaking openly across the decades regarding the USSR-U.S.-Russia field.

I hope you have time to give yourself a treat in the form of this very personal and important interview, Remembering Stephen F. Cohen: Katrina vanden Heuvel on life and love with eminent Russia scholar.

I’m back from a two-week break, more to follow in the days to come.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives