by Hrag Vartanian
Standing on top of the Empire State Building the world seems to unfold around you as you're poised at the center of it all—a true urban jungle that starts in New York and extends around the world. Home of the United Nations and headquarters for many of the world's largest international foundations, the city's unique perspective and global relevance is unparalleled.
WHERE BUSINESS AND POLITICS MEET
"What I love about New York, and which is also true about New York's Armenian community, is there are so many diverse interests in the city. You've got the arts community, political interests, the bankers and everyone else you can imagine, so if you want to throw a party, a lecture or book signing you can find your crowd," Ian Bremmer says about the place he has chosen to call home after living in some of the world's most vibrant cities.
At the age of 32, Bremmer is the new kid on the block but his 15 years of experience, a MacArthur fellowship, a Hoover National Fellowship and both founder and president of Eurasia Group certainly puts him head and shoulders above others of his generation.
Started as his brainchild in 1998, Eurasia Group has blossomed from a small startup to an organization that made $5 million in 2001. He describes what he does, "Our slogan is, Defining the Business of Politics, the idea is to take Political Science and show it is a relevant field."
Bremmer's Eurasia Group has grappled with the mammoth task of shifting the established thinking about the political science field, "One of the things we're doing is a joint venture with Lehman Brothers that seeks to find a place for political scientists on Wall Street. I believe that in emerging markets political risk matters, as much as economic risk. The decision made by a leader can make the economy fluctuate."
Many businesspeople have yet to learn the relevance of politics, but after being burned by the Russian crisis, the peso meltdown and the many economic collapses that have happened only in the last few years they are learning fast. Bremmer writes a monthly column and index in The Financial Times, called the Lehman Brothers Eurasia Group Stability Index (LEGSI), that tracks political changes, "I feel this will be as important as when physicists began using derivative modeling during the eighties. Before there were no physicists anywhere to be seen on Wall Street and now every bank has them."
The implications for political science are enormous, new jobs and opportunities for a career traditionally begun and terminated in academe or perhaps government. While some old school economists may scoff at the new idea, Bremmer says few would say so openly and when his organization recently advertised for a Senior Associate position they were flooded with well over 500 résumés for the position.
Hailing from Chelsea, Massachusetts, Bremmer began university at the age of 15 and the following year traveled to the former Soviet Union with a professor from his political science department at Tulane University. He knew no Russian, had never been outside America and the professor was hesitant, but Bremmer reassured him by proposing to research on how the Black Market in the region worked. It was an ingenious idea that would develop growing relevance after the iron curtain crumbled, and was a feasible topic considering most of the traders and KGB agents involved spoke English. His professor helped him and together they published what would be Bremmer's first publication in a career that has continued for 15 years.
During this trip, he made his first contacts with the country of Armenia. "When I went to Yerevan it was as if I was in a different country from the Soviet Union. In the 1980's, Armenia was doing relatively well. You had a dissident movement, you had a creditable local elite that was educated and cosmopolitan and they had different ideas," Bremmer says and adds, "Yes, they spoke Russian and they were part of the Soviet Union, but it was as different from Moscow as two places could be."
During his subsequent trips to the region, 40 he guesses, he developed relationships with some of the people that became the future movers and shakers of the new republics. From Georgian parliament speaker, Zurab Zhvania, to former Russian Prime Minister, Sergei Kiriyenko, he's developed contacts that would make any CEO envious, "These leaders see that their region is a part of the world I care about."
Eurasia Group doesn't receive money from governments or opposition groups in the region and its credibility with all governments as a point of first contact with Western economic, academic and political leaders is a credit to its founder's ideals.
"I believe a rising tide will raise all the boats in the region. The same people who do business in Turkey tend to do business in Armenia. If you look at multinational corporations they are divided by regions. If Armenia and Azerbaijan are fighting, corporations won't invest in either. If they are thinking about the region, they will look first at the major economies—Turkey and Russia—to see if they are doing well. Armenia has it own national interest to see that Turkey is prospering," Bremmer says about the political and economic reality in a region anchored by the importance of Russia, Turkey and Iran.
Growing up with his Armenian mother, his identity was something he was always aware of but didn't have the opportunity to develop. Through an AGBU scholarship to pursue his education, he reconnected with the international network of Armenians and has been impressed by the impact the Diaspora can make in the small republic, "In my opinion, the American University of Armenia is the single best project the Diaspora has ever done. I've seen the capacity of local Armenians to get a world-class education in their country and help in building an intellectual infrastructure of human capital. In 100 years, that will make a lot of difference. It was done not only with money but also with a lot of hard work. There's a general sense among Armenians in the Diaspora that education is important and that was certainly conveyed to me through my Armenian family."
While Eurasia Group is poised to fast track the Eurasian region into 21st century realities, the institution that propelled New York front and center as a nexus of international politics, the United Nations, has its own Armenian member that continues to promote the many missions of the UN.
THE UN'S TROUBLESHOOTER
Benon Sevan is a native of Cyprus, which he says gave him a solid sense of identity, "I had no choice but to be Armenian. I was born to Armenian parents and I grew up in a country where even if I said I was a Turk or a Greek, I wouldn't be accepted as either."
"I joined the UN by accident—I actually wanted to teach philosophy. I got caught up with the turmoil in Cyprus during the fifties and one thing led to another and it's been a wonderful career. I've done political, economic, social and administrative jobs and it has been a fulfilling and enjoyable experience," Sevan says.
Known for his distinctive drawl that focuses your attention and his relaxed manner which is finely tuned with humor, Sevan will be celebrating his 37th year at the UN next year. An honest broker, he admits to being politically incorrect at times but insists it has allowed him to build a solid reputation in one of the hallmark institutions of international politics, "I speak my mind and don't hide behind the bushes. On the issue of Iraq, for instance, where there can be no innocence on either side I just make sure I insult both sides equally. There's one thing I've never done on any issue, I've never been a partisan. It can be like navigating a mine field."
Director of the Iraq Programme, one of the largest and toughest portfolios at the UN, Sevan also juggles other positions, including security coordinator for the UN's international offices and 70,000 staff members, which since September 11th has proved a more strenuous task.
Last summer, two UN staff members were kidnapped in Somalia and Sevan had to negotiate their release, drawing on his past experience with UN workers taken hostage in the Middle East.
He describes himself as, "pragmatic with solutions but idealistic in thoughts." It has been a fruitful career that he remembers as particularly difficult when his daughter was much younger, "I realize I deal with the toughest neighborhoods in the world and I have no choice but to deal with the people involved. My daughter once asked me what I had done in a previous life because I was always being given humorless assignments."
Sevan explained to his daughter, now college-aged, that there were other children around the world just like her that didn't have mothers and fathers. His daughter collected some of her books and clothes and gave them to her father to take with him during his relief mission.
Since September 11th, Sevan's faith in New York's generosity has been fortified, "Apart from being vibrant, it's because misfits like me are here. Who is an American here? Being a New Yorker is in the blood. It's a difficult city if you don't know it, but it's also an ocean of kindness and generosity that was made obvious to everyone who didn't know it during the horrendous events of September 11th. If you want to be left alone you can be, if you want to be with people you can be with anyone. It's a fantastic city and I love being here."
September 11th has a special resonance with Sevan. He spent five years in Afghanistan (1988-92) after the Soviet period, "It was the toughest in regards to the people I had to work with but it was a unique experience." The history of the country Sevan has been reading in newspapers the world over suggest to him that the real history of the period is little understood. He plans to write a book about that experience to set the record straight about a country that has become a flashpoint of history, "There needs to be some coalition building between the various parties, that may prove difficult."
The period in Afghanistan coincided with another crucial event he sees as a major event in his life, "I used to sometimes dream where Armenia would be sitting in the meeting rooms of the UN, probably with Australia or Argentina. I've been able to see during my lifetime what nobody dreamt possible," he says.
GREGORIAN'S MISSION TO EDUCATE
Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, is also no stranger to Afghanistan. He published a book on the topic in 1970 as part of his doctoral work at Stanford University. He paraphrases British writer C.S. Lewis' article during the Battle of Britain in World War II for the reality of post-September 11th New York, "In extraordinary times ordinary things have to go on and in ordinary times extraordinary things happen."
Gregorian's familiarity with the region allows him to see the event within context, "Since 1842, Afghanistan is a region that has seen Great Britain defeated three times and the Soviet Army defeated once. Afghans are great guerrilla fighters and very nationalistic, it's the first time they've been internationalized by non-Afghan Muslims. The struggle is going to be between Afghan nationalists and foreigners. The country is multi-ethnic so a balance must be maintained, between Pashtuns, Tadjiks, Uzbeks and others, in order to establish peace. A similar situation arose in 1928 when the king was deposed and at the time the tribal leaders were crucial to the resolution."
The Carnegie President thinks that Americans have shown the strength of their national character in the face of tragedy, "It's been an awakening for the city but at the same time I've never seen as much outpouring of patriotism in its best sense and also tolerance in its best sense."
He doesn't believe that the American belief in tolerance is a universal value for all nations.
"If a Greek had killed thousands of Turks, all the Greeks in Turkey would be eliminated even now and vice versa. To see a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer at Yankee Stadium after the attack as survivors, victims and their families watched and not a single person booed or walked out demonstrates a great maturity that people understand how to distinguish between terrorists and others. It's a tribute to New York."
If anyone knows the heart and soul of the city it is undoubtedly Gregorian, who was recognized by the city's Conservancy office as a Living Landmark, a distinction shared with such New York need-to-knows as Brooke Astor, Peter Jennings, Philip Johnson, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Liz Smith.
Gregorian thinks he knows why the city is so special, "New York is the most dynamic city in the world because it's a perpetual school for hope and struggle. It's the most international city in the world because every nationality in the world is here.
"It's the intellectual and cultural capital of various Diasporas, not just us. Immigrants bring dynamism, struggle and inspiration. Also New York was built from effort and founded on commerce, so it's an impatient city and unforgiving because this is one place you can't say there are a lack of resources. But you have to use your brain to get those resources," Gregorian asserts.
In fact, fostering resources and putting them to their best use is one of Gregorian's strengths. He arrived in New York in 1981 to become President of the New York Public Library fully aware of the mammoth task of restructuring the city's public library system: this after graduating from Stanford University and teaching at a string of schools including San Francisco State College, the University of Texas, Austin, and both teaching and administrative posts at the University of Pennsylvania.
"When I took the job, one of the library's trustees asked me if I had seen a psychiatrist," he jokes, "because it was a crazy thing to do."
But Gregorian was unfazed, "I felt it would be considered great martyrdom, but the conditions were right with the right trustees, mayor and energy."
While his idealism drove him, he arrived at a time when the library system, like the city, was in financial straits, but his love of the institution's symbolism along with something else pushed him to accept the job, "The fact that all great scholarship emanates from great libraries. Also, it was because the public library is an egalitarian institution in which poor or rich, famous or unknown are entitled to it—the democratic impulse and its rich holding appealed to me as well."
One by one he overcame the problems, "First of all, I had to convince people that they can do more and better and should not be defeatist but aim high. Second, the main hall, which I was honored to have named after me, has an inscription that says that excellence and democracy are not mutually exclusive. I think the public expects very little from public institutions. They should expect more, it should be elegant, clean, serviceable and rich. People deserve a people's palace and the New York Public Library is that, where you can connect yourself to the rest of the world for free."
Originally from Iran, Gregorian went on in 1989 to become President of Brown University, a maverick institution in Rhode Island that at the time had little money and big aspirations. But the tireless Gregorian worked his magic by spearheading the largest fundraising drive in Brown and Rhode Island history. The endowment grew from a respectable $208 million to $1.1 billion and enrollment jumped by 20%.
It was a period when political correctness flooded campuses across the country and caused cultural wars that still flare but have lost their initial intensity. "Political correctness is an intellectually cheap way of getting out, there's no room for acting, it actually avoids dealing with issues. Free speech should be guaranteed even for a minority of one, no matter how obnoxious," Gregorian suggests and continues, "It was tough but during my nine years no one was denied access to campus. It's a free market of ideas and no one was barred. It was an open campus based on choice."
His current Presidency at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the largest of the philanthropic organizations that were left by the visionary robber baron Andrew Carnegie to promote "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding," was a natural next step he says, "It was attractive because you can build things and create them for the future. You can experiment and see the impact or the process. In New York City, we support the school system, non-profit organizations, research by faculty at various universities and international studies—we have a huge impact on the city."
The Foundation's global mission includes some of the toughest problems in the world today, but with resources that total almost $2 billion, and a yearly giving of $75 million, their impact is significant.
From sub-Saharan Africa to International Peace and Security, the foundation has proven to be creative, establishing the beginnings of the university faculty retirement system that continues till this day, libraries around the United States and even the International Hall of Justice in The Hague, The Netherlands. One sees why Gregorian is at home in an institution that has transformed for the better everything it approaches, like him its desire for excellence is unquenchable.
Gregorian is proud both of being a New Yorker and an Armenian American, particularly as the Armenian community has begun to realize that there is a whole world out there that they interconnect with daily, "Until a decade or two ago, Armenians were very inward and isolated, speaking only to each other. Now Armenians have become a mature community and are not afraid to publish, speak in Armenian or participate in American life.
"The individual can participate in the universal without dissolving itself. In New York, like any good community we're all over the city. The only thing that surprises me is that people know about our cuisine but there's not a single Armenian restaurant in Manhattan," Gregorian says.
Well, until the day that an Armenian restaurant resurfaces in Manhattan, people will have to provide the international flavor and there is no shortage of that.
