- Yevgeny Primakov
Infobox Officeholder
name = Yevgeny Primakov Евгений Примаков
nationality = Russian
order =Prime Minister of Russia
term_start = September 11, 1998
term_end = May 12, 1999
predecessor =Viktor Chernomyrdin
successor =Sergei Stepashin
birth_date = birth date and age|1929|10|29
birth_place =Kiev ,Ukraine ,Soviet Union
death_date =
death_place =
spouse =
party =
president =Boris Yeltsin Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov (Евгений Максимович Примаков, born October 29, 1929) is a
Russia npolitician , a formerKGB general [Ion Mihai Pacepa , [http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23725 A Terrorist State in the G8?] , "Human Events ", December 3, 2007] and a formerPrime Minister of Russia . He was also the last Speaker of theSoviet of the Union of theSupreme Soviet , and theRussian Foreign Minister responsible for changing the foreign policy from largely unconditional support of theUnited States to a more nationalist defense of Russia's interests.Early life
Primakov was born in
Kiev , Ukrainian SSR, and grew up inTbilisi , Georgian SSR. He was educated atMoscow State Institute of Oriental Studies , graduating in 1953 and did postgraduate work atMoscow State University . From 1956 to 1970, he worked as a journalist for Soviet radio and aMiddle Eastern correspondent forPravda newspaper. During this time, he was sent frequently on intelligence missions to theMiddle East and theUnited States as aKGB co-optee under codename MAKSIM [Christopher Andrew andVasili Mitrokhin , "TheMitrokhin Archive : The KGB in Europe and the West", Gardners Books (2000), ISBN 0-14-028487-7] [ Vadim J. Birstein. "The Perversion Of Knowledge: The True Story of Soviet Science." Westview Press (2004) ISBN 0-813-34280-5 ] .Early political career
As the Senior Researcher of the
Institute of World Economy and International Relations , Primakov entered in 1962 the scientific society. From 30 December 1970 to 1977, he served as Deputy Director ofInstitute of World Economy and International Relations of theUSSR Academy of Sciences . From 1977 to 1985 he was Director of theInstitute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences . During this time he was also First Deputy Chairman of theSoviet Peace Committee , a KGB foreign propagandafront organization . [ [http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2006-12-2 MN File] , "The Moscow News ", No. 18 2007] In 1985 he returned to theInstitute of World Economy and International Relations , serving as Director until 1989.Primakov became involved in politics in 1989, as the chairman of the Union Soviet, one of two houses of the Soviet parliament. From 1990 until 1991 he was a member of Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev 's Presidential Council. He served as Gorbachev's special envoy toIraq in the run-up to theGulf War , in which capacity he held talks with PresidentSaddam Hussein . After the failed August 1991 putsch attempt, Primakov was appointed First Deputy Chairman of theKGB . After the formation of theRussian Federation , Primakov was appointed Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service SVR, serving in that position from 1991 until 1996.Foreign minister
Primakov served as
foreign minister from January 1996 until September 1998 . As foreign minister, he gained respect at home and abroad as a tough but pragmatic supporter of Russia's interests, and an opponent ofNATO 's expansion into the formerEastern bloc , though on May 27, 1997, after 5 months of negotiation with NATO Secretary generalJavier Solana , Russia signed the [http://www.nato.int/docu/basictxt/fndact-a.htm Foundation Act] , which is seen as marking the end of cold war hostilities.He was also famously an advocate of
Multilateralism as an alternative to US global hegemony following the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War. Primakov called for a Russian foreign policy based on low-cost mediation while expanding influence towards the Middle East and the former Soviet republics. This policy became known as the "Primakov doctrine". Primakov has promoted Russia,China , andIndia as a "strategic triangle" to counterbalance the United States. The move was interpreted by some observers as an agreement to fight together against 'color revolution s' in Central Asia [ [http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=582650 The Third Among the Equals. Moscow, New Delhi and Beijing are creating counter-revolutionary union]Kommersant , June 3, 2005 ] Samuel Huntington calls this an antihegemoniccoalition in an essay entitled [http://homepages.stmartin.edu/Fac_Staff/rlangill/PLS%20300/The%20Lonely%20Superpower.htm 'The Lonely Superpower'] .Prime minister
After Yeltsin's bid to reinstate
Viktor Chernomyrdin as Russian prime minister was blocked by theDuma in September 1998, the President turned to Primakov as a compromise figure whom he rightly judged would be accepted by the parliament's majority. As prime minister, Primakov was given credit for forcing some very difficult reforms in Russia, most of them, such as the tax reform, became major success. While his opposition to the USUnilateralism was popular among Russians, it also led to a disastrous breach with the West duringNATO 's campaign inKosovo , which ultimately left Russia alone in subsequent developments in theformer Yugoslavia .Analysts ascribed Yeltsin's May 12, 1999 firing of Primakov as a reaction to his fear of losing power to a more successful and popular person. Primakov also refused to dismiss Communist ministers as the
Communist Party of the Russian Federation was leading the process of preparing unsuccessfulimpeachment proceedings against the president. However, Yeltsin resigned at the end of the year and was succeeded by the prime minister of that time,Vladimir Putin .On
1999-03-24 , Primakov was heading toWashington for an official visit. Flying over theAtlantic Ocean , he learned thatNATO started to bomb Yugoslavia. Primakov decided to cancel the visit, ordered to turn around over the ocean and returned toMoscow - it was called "Primakov's loop". [ [http://svr.gov.ru/smi/2006/slovo20061117-n.htm Кросс по минному полю.] ru icon]Deputy and special representative
Before Yeltsin’s resignation, Primakov supported the
Fatherland – All Russia electoral faction, which at that time was the major opponent of the pro-Putin Unity) and launched his presidential bid. Initially considered the man to beat, Primakov was rapidly overtaken by the factions loyal toVladimir Putin in the Duma elections in December 1999. Primakov officially abandoned the presidential race in his TV address on February 4, 2000 [http://www.flb.ru/index_open.php?person_id=121] less than two months before the March 26 presidential elections. Soon he became an adviser to Putin and a political ally. On December 14, 2001, Primakov became President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.In February and March 2003, he visited
Iraq and talked withIraq i PresidentSaddam Hussein , as a special representative of PresidentVladimir Putin . He brought to Baghdad a message from Putin to call for Saddam to resign voluntarily. [http://www.vesti7.ru/news?id=9664 Евгений Примаков: Саддаму не дали последнего слова.] ru icon] He tried to prevent the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a move which received some support from several nations opposed to the war. Primakov suggested that Saddam must hand over all Iraq'sweapons of mass destruction to theUnited Nations , among other things.Yossef Bodansky "The Secret History of the Iraq War". Regan Books, 2005, ISBN 0-060-73680-1 ] "Saddam tapped me on the shoulder and went out of the room", Primakov recalled. Saddam showed strong confidence that nothing terrible will not happen with him personally. In Primakov's opinion, this confidence was the result of Iraqi secret relationship with U.S., and the rapid execution of Saddam did not allow him to "say the last word" to uncover the whole game. "And if he had said all this, I assure you, it was very uncomfortable to sit in the President chair for the current President of the United States", Primakov assured.In November 2004, Primakov testified in defense of the former Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milošević , on trial for war crimes. Earlier, he was the leader of a Russian delegation that met withSlobodan Milosevic during NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.As of December 2007, Primakov is President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. On December 11, 2007, he said at a meeting with Putin that the course followed by Putin should be continued, as Putin prepares to leave the presidency in 2008. He said that there were two threats to this course: one from neo-liberals and the oligarchs, and one from those seeking the merger "of the state apparatus with business" in order to create an "administrative-market society". [ [http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12169417&PageNum=0 "Business backs continuity of president's course - Primakov"] , Itar-Tass, December 11, 2007.]
Academic life
Primakov is one of the leading Russian
Orientalist s, a major scientist in the world economy and international relations, particularly in the field of integrated development of Russia's foreign policy issues, study the theory and practice of international conflicts and crises, research of the world civilization process, of global issues, socio-economic and political problems ofdeveloping countries . Since 1988, Primakov was the Academician Secretary of the World Economy and International Relations Devision, and the member of the Presidium of theUSSR Academy of Sciences . On2008-05-26 , Primakov was elected as a member of the Presidium of theRussian Academy of Sciences . [ [http://lenta.ru/news/2008/06/02/presidium/ Евгений Примаков вошел в состав президиума РАН.] ru icon]Awards
* Order Of Service To The Fatherland 2nd Class (1998)
* Order Of Service To The Fatherland 3rd Class
* Order Of Honor (2004) [ [http://www.allmedia.ru/newsitem.asp?id=730022 В.Путин наградил Е.Примакова орденом Почёта.] ru icon]
*Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1975)
*Order of Friendship of Peoples (1979)
*Order of the Badge of Honor (1985)
* Order Of Yaroslav I the Wise 5th Class (Ukraine , 2004) [ [http://www.derrick.ru/index.php?f=n&id=5314&page=482 Леонид Кучма наградил орденом президента ТПП РФ Евгения Примакова.] ru icon]
* Order Of Danaker (Kyrgyzstan ) [ [http://www.adviser.kg/online/show.fwx?Regnom=48055 О награждении орденом «Данакер» Примакова Е.М.] ru icon]
* Order Of Friendship Of Peoples (Belorussia , 2005) [ [http://naviny.by/rubrics/politic/2005/05/08/ic_news_112_243355/print/ Евгений Примаков получил из рук Лукашенко орден Дружбы народов.] ru icon]
* Order Of Friendship (Tajikistan , 1999)
* Order Of Dostyk 1st Class (Kazakhstan ) (2007)
* Recipient of theUSSR State Prize (1980)
* Recipient of the Nasser Prize (1974)
* Recipient of theAvicenna Prize (1983)
* Recipient of the George F. Kennan Prize (1990)
* Recipient of the Hugo Grotius Prize "for the huge contribution to the development of international law and for the creation of a multipolar world doctrine" (2000).References
See also
*
Yevgeny Primakov's Cabinet External links
* [http://www.project-syndicate.org/contributors/contributor_comm.php4?id=128 Yevgeny Primakov's Project Syndicate op/eds]
Persondata
NAME= Primakov, Yevgeny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= formerPrime Minister of Russia
DATE OF BIRTH= October 29, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH=Kiev ,Ukraine
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
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