Category: Winds of Change

Balkan Turmoil, CroatiaLeave a comment

Vukovar, Croatia

Rich McClear

Note, Vukovar was the first major victim in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.  It is a border town on the Danube, in Croatia but, before the wars, with a slight Serbian majority.  The Serbs finally took the town over but after the Dayton Accords the town was administered by the UN before being turned over to the Croats, 13 days before we arrived.  Our job was to work with the Serbian radio stations in the region to make sure they got licenses from the Croatian government and to help assure that the rights of the Serbian, Roma and Hungarian … Continue reading Vukovar, Croatia

a, Balkan Turmoil, SerbiaLeave a comment

Belgrade, NATO Bombing Sites.

Rich McClear

This is from an October 2000 letter from Belgrade, on my first visit to the city after Milosevic lost power– and my first visit since the NATO bombing.   When someone asks “do you want to see the sights” he really means “sites,” the places hit during the NATO bombing.  Like in Pristina, the tour points out how accurate the bombing really was.  People mark time “before bombing, after bombing” always pronouncing the second “b” in bombing.  And when people ask “how has Belgrade changed” they expect me to cite the most visible of the sites, the tall building next … Continue reading Belgrade, NATO Bombing Sites.

Georgia, Soviet UnionLeave a comment

Rose Revolution Square, A Transformation.

Rich McClear

Rose Revolution Square is still under re-construction.  It had two anchors, The Hotel Iveria and the reviewing stand for Mayday parades.  One is gone and the other utterly transformed. In 2004 I wrote:  “Georgia has some of the screwiest modern Socialist Realism on the planet, including a massive, several story high multi arched reviewing stand for May Day parades that looks like what Le Cobisier would build if he had a commission from McDonald’s.  Locals playfully call it ‘Andropov’s Ears.’ Andropov’s Ears is where President Saakashvili reviewed the troops last week and made his saber rattling speech on Adjara.” Andropov’s … Continue reading Rose Revolution Square, A Transformation.

Arab Spring, Egypt, MENALeave a comment

Arab Spring, April 2011

Rich McClear

The bridge cleaned up.   April 15, 2011,  Cairo, Egypt I got into the cab in Cairo and was shocked; the driver was wearing a seatbelt.  I hadn’t seen this before.  I put mine on.  He smiled and said “New Egypt.”  New Egypt is being stuck in a traffic jam near Tahrir Square and seeing a citizen in a white t shirt step forward, waving a cigarette like a baton, directing traffic.  People are taking responsibility.  One friend said “They used to own Egypt, now we do.  We have to take care of it.”  Or as another said “Before we … Continue reading Arab Spring, April 2011

a, Arab Spring, Egypt, MENA, QatarLeave a comment

Arab Spring, Feb 11, Mubarak Steps Down

Rich McClear

On February 11, Hosni Mubarak stepped down as President of Egypt.  Suzi and I were in Doha, Qatar that night and went out on the streets as soon as we heard he had left power.  We were watching the events on Al Jazeera in our hotel room.  I looked out the window and across the bay I saw what looked, to me, like a large number of cars for that time of night.  We could hear a lot of honking so we set out from the hotel on foot to see what was happening.  Doha is a strange place.  To … Continue reading Arab Spring, Feb 11, Mubarak Steps Down

a, Arab Spring, Egypt, MENALeave a comment

Arab Spring, January 2011, Suzi’s Story

Rich McClear

Suzi’s McClear was Chief of Party for USAID’s  Media Development Program in Egypt.  Tuesday, January 25 was a state holiday, Police Day.  That day a group of demonstrators gathered in Tahrir Square protesting the government.  It was a large demonstration but many people thought not much would come of it.  The local press tried to ignore it but Suzi got an email from our son, Kevin, who said that international media said Cairo looked like a war zone.  From her perspective it was a quiet day. Two days later, Friday, prayer day, a traditional day for protests,  social media activists … Continue reading Arab Spring, January 2011, Suzi’s Story

a, Arab Spring, Egypt, MENALeave a comment

Arab Spring, April 6, 2008, A blogging course.

Rich McClear

April 8, 2008, Cairo, Egypt Dear Friends, For the past several months we’ve been trying to pull off the first ever course on blogging in Egypt.   There is a lot of concern because bloggers have been the ones who exposed police brutality, sexual harassment and bloggers have given people a voice that is denied in state controlled press.  The news moves forward on blogs.  At the end of Ramadan two years ago several women reported being groped in public, the police denied it so some women bloggers took their cell phones and photographed the groping.  The story was picked up … Continue reading Arab Spring, April 6, 2008, A blogging course.

a, Balkan Turmoil, Balkans, Kosovo, Winds of ChangeLeave a comment

Kosovo, June 1999

Rich McClear

In June, 1999, about a week after NATO took control of Kosovo Suzi and I visited Prishtina for the first time.  For the next two years we would be regular commuters into Kosovo, based either in Podgorica or Belgrade but managing a media program in Kosovo as well as for Serbia.   Dear Friends, It was 4:22.  The muezzin’s morning call to prayer drifted through the apartment window with a warm spring breeze.  “God is great, prayer is better than sleep.”  This time I didn’t sigh my own Christian prayer and drift back to sleep.  I had an early appointment. … Continue reading Kosovo, June 1999

a, Soviet UnionLeave a comment

Russia, Vladivostok, 1995

Rich McClear

In June 1995 we were working on a radio project in Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East for a month.  Our friends from Vladivostok were able to visit us in Khabarovsk and we were able to return a visit to them.  This is the part of the weekly letter from June 20 that deals with that visit.   June 20, 1995 Khabarovsk Russian Far East Dear Friends, Over the weekend we went to Vladivostok to visit friends and see the city after almost four years.  We rode from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok on the final leg of the Trans-Siberian Railroad train, … Continue reading Russia, Vladivostok, 1995

a, Soviet UnionLeave a comment

Russia, Vladivostok, 1991

Rich McClear

In 1991 Suzi and I kept up our contacts with the Russian Far East.  This is an excerpt from an end of the year letter I sent to my family in October 1991.  We have continued to maintain contact with the folks who hosted us in Vladivostok.  Brian’s “Russian sister” lives in Alaska now, with her mother.   1991 is the 250th anniversary of the Bering-Cherikov voyages of exploration from Siberia to Alaska.  1990 ended with a trip by all four of us to Vladivostok in the Soviet Union.  In April some of the people we stayed with in Vladivostok … Continue reading Russia, Vladivostok, 1991

Soviet UnionLeave a comment

Russia, Vladivostok 1990

Rich McClear

  In November of 1990 we got a call from a friend in Juneau.  Juneau was trying to put together the first US citizen delegation to visit Vladivostok in more than 50 years.  They wanted kids who could spend a week in a Vladivostok English language school and adults who could accompany them to discuss business relations.  Were we interested? Suzi immediately committed the two of us but said she would have to ask the kids.  Our friend, Terry, said “You can commit Rich but not your sons?”  What she didn’t know was that, after our visit to Prague for … Continue reading Russia, Vladivostok 1990