From Volume 36, Issue 39 of EIR Online, Published Oct. 9, 2009
Russia and the CIS News Digest

Russian Scientists Raise Alarm Over Destruction of Science

Oct. 2 (EIRNS)—The Russian daily Vedemosti today published a letter to President Dmitri Medvedev from a group of prominent Russian scientists working abroad, who warn of the collapse of Russia's science capabilities. Similar to the repeated warnings of U.S. economist Lyndon LaRouche, on this issue, the letter laments the "catastrophic state of theoretical science" in Russia and calls on President Medvedev to put forward proposals to ensure the country's scientific and technological development. In particular, they warn of the tremendous "brain drain" of Russian scientists abroad.

The scientists call on the President and Prime Minister Putin to rectify the situation by "ensuring transparent financing of science projects, integrating Russian science into global research efforts, introducing international assessment standards and resorting more often to the practice of independent grants." They also urge the Russian government to host a major project, for instance, in high-energy particle physics, which might attract international participation and promote scientific careers in the country. "We believe that urgent measures to prevent the looming collapse of science in the country, and efforts to draft and implement a new model of scientific and technological development, must be among the Russian leaders' top priorities," the letter said. The 40 signers agreed to lend their advice to the government on the necessary measures to be taken.

Similar concerns had been voiced in a recent article in the popular weekly Argumenty i fakty by a Russian physics professor, who noted the diminished prestige of scientific pursuits in Russia and the loss of the Classical humanist curriculum in the education system, which he considered to be the necessary basis for the promotion of scientific careers among young people.

Putin To Visit China in October

Sept. 29 (EIRNS)—The international financial crisis will be on the agenda when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other heads of government from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries visit China Oct. 12-14, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Jiang Yu announced in Beijing today. Putin will hold bilateral discussions with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao, who invited him to China when Hu was in Russia in June; Putin will then attend the SCO meeting Oct. 14. Jiang said that the leaders would discuss ways of addressing the international financial crisis and deepening regional economic and humanitarian cooperation.

Putin could use some intelligent discussion about the crisis: Today, he told the VTB Capital Bank investment forum in Moscow that, despite the private sector's demands for increasing government bailouts, his government would go for even more privatization. "Russia had preserved the free movement of capital and the convertibility of the ruble," he said. "Russia will remain a liberal, free-market economy."

Ukrainian Conference Proceedings, Featuring LaRouche, Published

Oct. 1 (EIRNS)—The proceedings of the conference on "Physical Economy: Research Methodology and the Global Mission of Ukraine," held in Kiev this past April, have been published in limited-edition book form. The 532-page volume begins with statements and greeting messages by the conference organizers, as well as by Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko, Academician A.F. Pavlenko, and American economist Lyndon LaRouche. LaRouche's statement is his message to the conference, "Science and Society Now," which was read at the event by Rachel Douglas, and published in EIR of May 1, 2009.

Also included in the book is LaRouche's essay for the occasion, "The Principle of Mind" (EIR, April 3, 2009). It appears in full in the original English, and in a Russian translation of a large part of the article. Sky Shields' conference presentation, "The Pedagogical and Political Mission of the LaRouche Youth Movement," appears in the same opening section of the book as LaRouche's article, on "The Theoretical and Methodological Foundations of Physical Economy."

The conference was co-sponsored by the Kiev National Economics University (KNEU) and the S.A. Podolynsky Scientific Society. They, together with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science, have brought out the book of the proceedings.

Besides LaRouche's and Shields' presentations, the conference discussion and many other presentations underscored the importance of LaRouche's economic ideas for addressing the current crisis. Notable, in the conference papers which have now been published, are those of KNEU lecturer Lyudmila Vorobyova, who situated LaRouche's work on physical economy as a sequel to that of Academician Vladimir Vernadsky, and Vernadsky expert A.A. Ignatenko, senior scientific advisor at the Regional Museum in Kremenchuk, Poltava Region. Ignatenko, calling for renewed study of Vernadsky's concept of the Noösphere, also highlighted LaRouche's writings on transforming the Biosphere, including through infrastructure development corridors.

The volume concludes with "Recommendations of the Conference," which incorporated—though not by name—the proposal which Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche conveyed to the meeting, that, in the current crisis, the conference should urge scientists, governments, and citizens of all countries to demand solutions based on physical economy, drawing on the work of Leibniz, Alexander Hamilton, Henry Carey, Friedrich List, Dmitri Mendeleyev, Vladimir Vernadsky, and Lyndon LaRouche (in addition to the conference's announced emphasis on S.A. Podolynsky and Mykola Rudenko).

Only 150 copies of the proceedings were printed, for distribution to the conference participants, Ukraine's libraries, and a number of prominent figures in the government and scientific community. KNEU staff are studying the possibility of further disseminating the proceedings online, or in a commercial edition of the book.

The April conference was also publicized in the August issue of Ekonomika Ukrainy (The Ukrainian Economy), monthly journal of the Ministry of Economics, Ministry of Finance, and the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Lyudmila Vorobyova's three-page report on the conference included the full text of LaRouche's "Science and Society Now" greeting.

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