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REGIONAL NEWS & SPECIAL REPORTS -
REGIONAL NEWS & SPECIAL REPORTS
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 49/I/December/2004
Some recent international media reports awaken us to the power of America as the world's only superpower, lavishly exercised with money and influence bought with it. The recent case in Ukraine offers a significant message to whoever is engaged in activities either in accord with or against American interests here or elsewhere.
The Associated Press reported that at least $65 million from the Bush administration and public and private U.S. sources has been spent over the past two years to aid political organizations in Ukraine with a view to helping the pro-West opposition leader, Viktor Yushchenko, gain power. The American money is via organizations like the Carnegie Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy that is directly funded by Congress, the Eurasia Foundation financed by the State Department, and the Renaissance Foundation connected to George Soros.
No U.S. money is sent directly to the pro-American candidate or any Ukrainian political parties. It is used in diverse ways such as arranging Yushchenko's meetings with U.S. leaders, underwriting exit polls during last month's presidential runoff election and educating Ukrainian citizens about reforming their nation's government and economy, methods that can reject Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim of U.S. interference in the election in the former Soviet republic.
Korea's civil society, replete with numerous civic groups and individual activists, is showing a growing trend of anti-Ame-ricanism these years that may attract concerns of those who hold the purse strings in the U.S. State Department and some "foundations" with goals to disseminate the "American values" worldwide.
In spite of their increasingly active role on political, economic and environmental issues, Korea's civic organizations generally have weak finance with low membership contributions. They should be too cautious about financial offerings from obscure foreign sources, because they could become unwitting beneficiaries of part of the $1 billion U.S. taxpayers' money the State Department spends each year to "build democracy" overseas or the "charity" operations of the Soros Fund. Inflow of such American money into Korean civil society movements will do harm to their credibility.
Korea Herald December 15, 2004
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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