[ALST-L] TOL

[Lars Nicolaisen]

TRANSITIONS ONLINE FEBRUARY ISSUE

Transitions Online (TOL) (http://www.tol.cz), the leading Internet magazine
covering Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the former Soviet
Union, has now moved to a membership-based system. You can still see TOL
for FREE, with no obligation. Just fill out our registration form at
http://www.tol.cz/member.html to receive your free two-month trial
membership, with no obligation. If you're a citizen of a post-communist
country, go to http://www.tol.cz/subscribe.html to sign up for a FREE
annual membership.

A Czech nonprofit dedicated to promoting independent journalism, TOL is
based in Prague and uses a network of local correspondents to provide
unique, cross-regional analysis. TOL was recently named site of the day
by Central Europe Online (http://www.centraleurope.com), a top information
source.

New at TOL:

FEATURES: With a push from the West, Bulgaria is the first Balkan
country to undergo significant military reform; Konstantin Ivanov reports
at http://www.tol.cz/jul99/specr0200.html ... The assassination of Arkan
tips the balance of terror in Serbia; Milorad Ivanovic gives the view from
Belgrade at http://www.tol.cz/jul99/specr01002.html

MEDIA: As Moldova peddles away its .md domain name, local analysts bemoan
the loss of national identity; Iulian Robu itemizes the gripes at
http://www.tol.cz/jan00/virtumd.html

OPINIONS: L.M. Handrahan says her experience as an election monitor in
Kyrgyzstan proves the country is far from democratic, despite the West's
best wishes; at http://www.tol.cz/opina/kyrga.html ... Zurab Tchiaberashvili
argues that prolonging the rule of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnaze is
detrimental to long-term stability; at http://www.tol.cz/opina/georga.html

IN FOCUS: This month, TOL's main package, "Growing Pains," examines the
problems plaguing youth throughout Central and Eastern Europe and Russia.

By Any Means Necessary
http://www.tol.cz/feb00/belayouth.html
by Alex Znatkevich
Frustrated by police brutality at protests and an unswervingly oppressive
presidential rule, Belarusian youth are bucking the ineffective opposition
to form radical fronts. Some of the groups have gone completely
underground, for fear of persecution by the authorities; others are giving
teeth to other forms of political opposition in Belarus.

Brutal Youth
http://www.tol.cz/feb00/brutayouth.html
by Damir Pilic
Hard hit by post-war nihilism, youth in the Mediterranean port of Split are
turning to violence, suicide, and drugs. "Split is simply not a city for
cocaine," says Slavko Sakoman, president of the Croatian commission on drug
abuse. "Cocaine is a drug of rhythm and speed, a drug for successful young
people ... and Split citizens, especially youth, are plagued by general
depression and that makes it an ideal field for heroin: the drug of
dreaming and closing."

To Leave or Not to Leave
http://www.tol.cz/feb00/moldachi.html
by Iulian Robu
With the economy on a steep decline, ambitious young Moldovans are
increasingly looking beyond their country's borders for the future. And
even though the country is losing a valuable generation of people who could
potentially turn the country around, the government isn't exactly begging
them to stay. But a few are sticking it out to form their own companies.

In Komsomol's Wake
http://www.tol.cz/feb00/komsomol.html
by Alex Chizhenok
"The major achievement of the Komsomol was its totality," says Grigorii
Andreev, leader of the St. Petersburg youth front Novyi gorod. That is just
one of the fringe youth groups that have sprouted in Russia to fill the
vacuum left by the Komsomol, the Soviet-era youth colossus. Though none of the
fledgling groups have the reach of the Komsomol, many are tackling drug abuse
and political lethargy among youth with enthusiastic -- if somewhat
scattered -- attentions.

Policy Without a Punch
http://www.tol.cz/feb00/armen.html
by Onnik Krikorian
An estimated one million Armenians have left the country in the last
decade -- many of them young people. The government seems to be finally
taking the brain drain seriously and has drafted a comprehensive youth
policy paper. But NGOs are complaining that much of what needs to be
undertaken exists only in theory and not in practice, indicating there's
still a long way to go.

We encourage you to visit our site, subscribe, and become part of a dynamic
new media project dedicated to building independent journalism in Central
and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union. And be sure
to also visit our partner sites:

- Central Europe Review (http://www.ce-review.org), the weekly Internet
journal of Central and East European politics, society, and culture

- The Network of Independent Journalists of Central and Eastern Europe
(NIJ), a weekly service run by the Croatian-based STINA press agency. To
subscribe to STINA's NIJ weekly service, giving you timely news of events
in the region, send an e-mail to: stina at zamir.net

- Index on Censorship, the international journal for free expression
(http://www.indexoncensorship.org). Through interviews, reportage, banned
literature, and polemic, Index shows how free speech affects the political
issues of the moment.

WE APOLOGIZE IF YOU WERE INADVERTENTLY ADDED TO THIS LIST. IF YOU WISH TO
BE REMOVED, PLEASE WRITE: lars at ijt.cz