The Prague Post
December 1st, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Prague accomodation

Home » Archives » Opinion

Amid the crises, a time for reconsideration


Postview | Search restaurants | Archives

October 1st, 2008 issue

It’s hard to shake the feeling this week that the world is falling apart. The shock waves from Czech Ambassador Ivo Žďárek’s death in a Pakistani terrorist bombing are still reverberating. Flagship glassmaker Bohemia Crystalex is in bankruptcy. American lawmakers squabble while the financial crisis in the United States threatens to sink more companies all over the globe.

Even for jaded veterans in the news business, it’s a troubling and unprecedented time.
It’s also a reminder that even on a relative island of calm like the Czech Republic, there is no escaping the larger forces roiling the globe. While not disparaging the country’s economic policies, what this country has mostly been is lucky. The strong crown, a relatively stable stock market — though that could change quickly — and a minor supporting role in international affairs have kept it insulated from the harshest economic and political realities.
But that too could change quickly, and it almost certainly will. The radar base may have fallen off the front pages, but it remains a flash point between the United States and Russia, with the Czech Republic increasingly becoming a pawn in the new Cold War between the East and West. And the eyes of the world will be on this country when it assumes the European Union presidency in January.
So it’s worth considering what lessons lay in the current crises. The common denominator in all of them is a lack of leadership, starting in the States. The country’s shocking inability to deal quickly and decisively with the financial crisis speaks for itself. And the cost of the misguided U.S. strategy in the Middle East is becoming increasingly clear, with the bulk of the country’s resources still mired in Iraq while the real front lines of terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan heat up and explode.
There are no quick and easy solutions to any of these situations, but what they are all screaming for is intelligent, far-sighted leadership. No matter what one’s politics, there is no denying that such leadership has been absent in the United States for a long time. And, no matter what one’s politics, there is no escaping the sinking feeling that the Czech Republic is headed in the same direction.
This paper does not follow every internecine twist and turn of Czech politics because it is a pointless exercise. Scandals, personal attacks, orchestrated leaks and back-stabbing may make for lurid reading, but they are ephemeral, more a matter of personal vendettas than public policy, and do not merit serious consideration or coverage.
It’s a cliché at this point to opine that citizens need to demand better of their leaders. But that’s not the case here. Outside of narrow election periods, Czech political officials have shown nothing but disdain for what the electorate thinks, most notably on the radar base, which polls have consistently shown that two-thirds of the electorate opposes.
What Czech leaders need to do is stop, look around, think about how lucky they are, and take the opportunity to develop real leadership before they find themselves, like so many of their counterparts around the world today, behind the eight ball.


Other articles in Opinion (1/10/2008):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Reader's comments:

add your comment
[10:26 03/10/2008] : That's the spirit blame the US for all the world's trouble. You folks are so far left in your opinions that you could be writing fairytales like they at Pravda. Good Luck Comrades
Martin Smith
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
[01:45 04/10/2008] : The PP ascribes to "luck" the fact that the CR enjoys "a strong crown" and a stable stock market. Apparently, the PP hasn't considered the possibility that it isn't luck, but rather free-market policies that the PP has been deploring since, well, 1992.

Of course, anytime a government does something with which the PP disagrees, the PP ascribes it to a failure of "leadership." Hey, I was always told that "leadership" often meant doing the unpopular thing. What happened?
Brant
Miami
[06:35 05/10/2008] : When and if the Czech Parliament ratifies the missile defense agreement the pact should receive the same consideration that the US Senate's quite recent September 26 ratification of the NATO treaty making Albania and Croatia NATO members received.

The Czech Parliament considers the "missile defense pact" a treaty and as such are debating it in October and have announced that they will not vote on it until after the US elections.
Of course, anything can change.
The issue is even more pertinent at the moment in view of the meltdown of the US financial infrastructure as well as the deteriorating physical infrastructure in the US. The two cannot be separated and in my view are integrally connected to US national security.
The issue of the missile defense system and the Bush administration doing an end-run around the US Constitution's advise and consent provisions is yet another indication of the Bush administration's total disregard for the US Constitution.

American citizens need to be aware that as soon as the "missile defense pact" passes the Czech Parliament it could be enacted into law unless the US Senate objects
and American citizens object.

Of course, things have changed. The US economy is now the wild card in this whole equation and the possibility of the missile defense system appears increasingly irrelevant in view of the shrinking US economy.

Paulette C. Will
Minneapolis
[20:47 09/10/2008] : Thats because the US are responsible for most of this.As Churchill said "the Americans can be relied on to take the right option when they have pursued every other option"
Matt Wright
Leeds
Note: Comments that include profanity, personal attacks or any other inappropriate material are prohibited.  

Add your comment


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.