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The Eurasia Research Center project is dedicated to research and analysis of Post-Communist Eurasia and the promotion of human rights, democratic government and just peace throughout the region. At present the main activity of the project is the gathering and organizing of data on Post-Communist Eurasia. The center's most important project is a detailed comparative study of the origins and dynamics of conflicts in the Eurasian region arising from the breakup of the former Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia and the collapse of the Communist state. The study also covers Afghanistan since the fall of the pro-Soviet regime in that country. The center is interested in establishing professional contacts with scholars specializing in the international relations, history, politics, and culture in the region, especially who are dedicated to the cause of human rights, democracy and a just and peaceful international order based on principles of mutual tolerance and mutual respect among peoples and nations. THE EURASIA
RESEARCH CENTER IS ASSOCIATED WITH
THE CENTER ARCHIVESThe Eurasia Research Center project's archive and library consists of books, pamphlets, articles, newspapers, microfilms, and electronic materials, gathered and organized by Alan Fogelquist during his ongoing research on post-communist Eurasia. An important part of the collection consists of microfilms, microfiche, cd roms, and hard copies of major newspapers and journals from the former Soviet Union, former Yugoslavia, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The collection from the former Soviet Union includes daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, and journals from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. Electronic archives include RFE/RL and OMRI daily reports, and electronic publications from, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the Baltic States, as well as hundreds of wire service reports and electronically stored articles from Western news agencies and wire services. Most of these materials have been organized and indexed for easy access. Much time and money have been expended on the acquistion and organization of this archival collection.
Alan F. Fogelquist Founder of the Eurasia Research Center A NOTE FROM THE CENTERS FOUNDER
From the beginning of the East European democratic revolutions against one-party Communist rule, I have dedicated much time and energy to detailed research on the consequences of the fall of Communism and the breakup of the multi-national states of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. I have done my best to inform myself of the details of each complex situation. The more carefully I have reviewed the history of the recent conflicts in Eurasia, the more convinced I have become that history is the result of human decisions, good and bad, and not simply the invevitable outcome of impersonal forces over which men have no control. Several of these conflicts are, I believe, largely the result of deliberate efforts of demagogues and political psychopaths to exploit religious, ethnic or regional prejudice in the unscrupulous quest for political power. The results are clear to see in places like Chechnya, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Abkhazia, and Bosnia: tens of thousands of dead, tens of thousands thousands of homes destroyed, and millions of refugees. Only when ordinary people take courageous action to force their political leaders to stand up for human rights, democracy, and a just international order, will there be any lasting peace in conflict-torn areas of Eurasia. Peace will never come if the political leaders of democratic countries refuse to stand up to aggression and turn a blind eye to mass killing. More pertinent now than ever is the basic truth stated in the great HIndu classic, the Mahabharata that "In the struggle between good and evil, to remain neutral is to side with evil." There are some conflicts where it may not be possible to pronounce on the goodness of one side and the wickedness of another, but in other cases there are clearly victims and agressors, wrong doers and fighters for justice. The struggle between the democratically elected government of Bosnia and the genocidal war machine of Milosevic's Serbia is one such conflict. This homepage represents my effort to use the internet to communicate with other concerned people about matters of critical importance to a vitally important region of the world and to humankind in general. I have chosen to call these headquarters for research, analysis and advocacy the EURASIA RESEARCH CENTER. Thanks to the internet, this Center can now be in closer contact with the wider world and perhaps in some small way contribute to human betterment in Eurasia and the wider world. Alan Fogelquist
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