Barak
01-31-2002, 05:24 PM
MegaZ, your idea of a new forum focusing on specific problems of our country is quite timely. I think it is a quality step forward toward making this forum a more interesting "place." Moreover, what I like about your idea is that it is focused. I just hope there will be enough interest among the forum members.
I am proposing that we break down the problems even further, because without understanding the workings of the parts that make the whole, it is impossible to conceive of any change in the whole. In addition, it would be good if the topics related to each other, and perhaps some of them synthesized the sound points of others so that we could derive some conclusions and come up with alternative courses of action.
To begin with, we could start with Strengths of our country in political, economic, and social terms. Then we can discuss the Weaknesses, and so forth untill we finish the SWOT analysis.
Some people may say that we already know all that stuff, and they are right to some extent. However, I believe, there is no thorough and systematic understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunites, and threats in the political, economic, and social life in Uzbekistan. Most of us think we know all about SWOT and why waste time? It is mostly our pride that hinders our understanding and prevents us from making steps forward. Moreover, even though we may not acheive any short term results with our discussions as some of forum members say, we can still gain and learn from each other. The learning part is very important here. Some of us think they already know everything and learning from others may not be on their "to do" list. You know, here in the U.S., when people have discussions or when they attend some informational meeing, they say they learned something from that meeting or discussion, even though those people maybe CEOs or professionals with extensive knowledge about the topics discussed. Besides, these activities no doubt help each of us become aware of what other people think and what alternatives they have to offer.
Ok, now, here is little I have come up with:
STRENGHTS
Political:
-a more or less stable government (arguable of course)
-close relations with many countries including Russia and the U.S.
Economic:
-the foundation (like evolving banking system, roads, buildings) on which to build and develop a better economic infrastructure
-abundant natural resources
-generally entreprenurial population
Social and Demographic:
-although changing, strong family values
-a more or less diverse population
Culture:
-folk wisdom accumulated since as far back as thousands of years
-hospitality
-a rich history, which needs further exploration
The above are not hard and fixed, and you are welcome to comment, argue, add, etc. After we have some sort of consensus on most of the points, we can move on to Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Thanks for considering.
I am proposing that we break down the problems even further, because without understanding the workings of the parts that make the whole, it is impossible to conceive of any change in the whole. In addition, it would be good if the topics related to each other, and perhaps some of them synthesized the sound points of others so that we could derive some conclusions and come up with alternative courses of action.
To begin with, we could start with Strengths of our country in political, economic, and social terms. Then we can discuss the Weaknesses, and so forth untill we finish the SWOT analysis.
Some people may say that we already know all that stuff, and they are right to some extent. However, I believe, there is no thorough and systematic understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunites, and threats in the political, economic, and social life in Uzbekistan. Most of us think we know all about SWOT and why waste time? It is mostly our pride that hinders our understanding and prevents us from making steps forward. Moreover, even though we may not acheive any short term results with our discussions as some of forum members say, we can still gain and learn from each other. The learning part is very important here. Some of us think they already know everything and learning from others may not be on their "to do" list. You know, here in the U.S., when people have discussions or when they attend some informational meeing, they say they learned something from that meeting or discussion, even though those people maybe CEOs or professionals with extensive knowledge about the topics discussed. Besides, these activities no doubt help each of us become aware of what other people think and what alternatives they have to offer.
Ok, now, here is little I have come up with:
STRENGHTS
Political:
-a more or less stable government (arguable of course)
-close relations with many countries including Russia and the U.S.
Economic:
-the foundation (like evolving banking system, roads, buildings) on which to build and develop a better economic infrastructure
-abundant natural resources
-generally entreprenurial population
Social and Demographic:
-although changing, strong family values
-a more or less diverse population
Culture:
-folk wisdom accumulated since as far back as thousands of years
-hospitality
-a rich history, which needs further exploration
The above are not hard and fixed, and you are welcome to comment, argue, add, etc. After we have some sort of consensus on most of the points, we can move on to Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Thanks for considering.