QUESTION: (inaudible) ... as far as I know,  this region is the smallest one, comparing to the others, but still really important.  Can you tell us about the main goals here?  I suppose they are a lot -- a bit different from, I don't know, Asia or some other parts of the world. 

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, sure.  And the development work that we do is country by country.  So what we talk about is helping countries on their journey to self-reliance.  And so, it all depends on where a country is in that journey. 

Now here in the Czech Republic, you have a country that has advanced remarkably, and is a great success story.  So in some ways, we're here to celebrate how far the Czech Republic has come.  And in fact, the Czech Republic is a partner of ours working with another partner of ours.  So right here, right now, it's about a celebration. 

But as we work around the region, it's doing a wide-range of things.  So we're helping to strengthen civil society in places like the Ukraine, or in Ukraine I should say, and pushing back against government intrusion of media, government intrusion of civil society.  So it really depends, country by country, on what we do. 

QUESTION: And how long is Czech Republic being supported by USAID? 

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, it's more of a partnership.  So USAID is just less than six decades old.  We really grew out of the Marshall Plan.  So we've been working in Europe ever since the Marshall Plan, if you will.  But with respect to the Czech Republic itself, this is a country that has come a long way in a remarkably short period of time.  So again, it's more about partnership than actually work that we're doing here in the country.

QUESTION: So it was like strong from the beginning, yes? 

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, I would say that we work with them on strengthening civil society and strengthening democracy and governance.  But this is a country that is, obviously, long surpassed.  And so, they really are a partner of ours, and we're exploring ways that we can work together to talk about their success story and bring similar successes to other parts of the region, other parts of the world.

QUESTION: And do you have other such good examples like Czech Republic and (inaudible)?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Oh, sure.  Yeah.  No.  And again, it really depends country by country. 

QUESTION: I understand.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: But India's a great example.  So India's a country that, not so long ago, was receiving food aid.  And now, we're partnering with them and doing work in places like Afghanistan.  And we're working with their private sector to catalyze investments that -- and to test technologies.  So it really depends on country by country.  But they're wonderful success stories. 

I would even point to some of the food security work we've done in places like Ethiopia. Ethiopia's a country that's gone into four consecutive years of drought and yet hasn't fallen into famine.  Part of that is the partnerships that we've done around good investments and food security technology.  And so, we work country by country.  We work with civil society.  We work with people, helping them to pursue their dreams, to build communities, and lift lives. 

QUESTION: I know that the Russian experience from using (inaudible), because basically I'm Russian.  But still, there is the Kremlin that tries to make a big influence in some countries that they (inaudible).  So what do you think, that's the part of your mission is to cut this influence? 

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, so what we try to do is to foster independent media, so that people can choose for themselves, get accurate information.  We try to support civil society and the role that civil society can play in working with people to help them be responsible citizens and engage in solid governance. 

So that's the work we do.  So our work isn't about Russia.  Instead, it's offering models that help people pursue their own dreams.  We believe in self-reliance.  We believe in the innate desire of every person, every community, every country, to build their own futures.  So for us, it's about freedom.  For us, it's about economic opportunity.  It's reaching out to young people, showing them what can be, and looking for ways to help them to realize their dreams. 

QUESTION: And when we're talking about civil society, and you talk about it a lot, you mean mostly the young people?  The new generation? 

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Yeah.  No.  Civil society are groups that come together.  Non-governmental organizations that pull together and assist people and provide connectivity for them, responsible citizenship, to create opportunities for them to engage, create economic opportunities.  You know, this is a part of the world where young people are seeking something better for young people, and looking for a chance at -- we Americans call it the American dream, but it isn't the American dream.  It's the universal dream to be able to have a brighter future; that's what civil society does.  Now, we know that governments like the Kremlin, they push back against civil society.  They don't like the role that civil society plays.  They want everything controlled, tightened by the government.

QUESTION: They might be afraid of them.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Yeah, I think they are afraid of civil society.  I think they seek to control them.  We're the opposite.  We want to give people freedom.  We want to give people the chance to pursue their dreams, to pursue economic opportunity.  So we believe in investing in people.

QUESTION: I know that your colleagues told me that you sometimes call yourself an old school democrat.  What does it exactly mean to you?  Same things we were talking about.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Sure.  Well, so, I'm a believer in democracy.  I believe wholeheartedly in freedom and democracy.  I'm an unabashed democracy warrior.  You know, I believe in freedom.  I believe that people all around the world want the same thing.  They want to be able to shape their own future.  They want a voice in their government.  They want to be able to shape policies.  They want to have political leaders that are responsive to them, not to the government. 

And so, yeah, I believe very strongly in fostering democracy.  And this is a part of the world, a place like the Czech Republic, where I think we've seen so many positive things happen.  You know, you look at what students have done here in the face of Nazism, in the face of Communism.  They've always risen up; they've always pushed back.  They've always tried to build a better society.  And to me, that's what it's all about.

QUESTION: You know it's a part of my job to meet with different people who mostly are also democrats, and a lot of them believe -- they are telling me that they have a strange feeling that the world itself is going in the wrong direction and some terrible fight and things are happening more and more.  What do you think about that?  Is that true?  Do you have such a feeling yourself?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: You know, I hear people being gloomy, and I'm not.  First off, I'm a believer in democracy, that democracy will win.  But also, you know, when you look at the activists, when you look at students, they haven't given up.  The students are as strong as ever.  They always -- they stand up for freedom; they stand up for a reconciliation; and they stand up for peace; and they stand up for economic opportunity.  So it is true that authoritarians have certainly tried to push back and hold people down.  But my belief and my money are on young people and what they believe in in their future.

So I know that democracy and freedom will win in the long run.  It's not to say that there aren't battles out there.  So let me give you a couple of examples.  We've seen Chinese aggression.  So China often turns to authoritarian governments and tries to offer them easy money up front in exchange for locking up strategic assets.  We've seen from Russia, oftentimes, closing down independent media, trying to close off the opportunities where people can receive independent media.  So those are the tactics.

But you know, when I look at that, that's a sign, for me, of weakness and fear.  It shows me that they are afraid of freedom.  They are afraid of economic opportunity for young people.  So again, I understand that people get nervous because of some of the push back from authoritarians.  But I'm a believer in democracy and freedom, and I'm very optimistic, particularly for our young people.

QUESTION: When will democracy win?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, so democracy is winning in many places.  This is -- this certainly isn't something that is, you know, linear or happens overnight.  But again, I've seen progress in so many places.  I'm an Africanist by training, and there's so many examples, places like Ethiopia where we've seen democracy become more vibrant.  In West Africa, a country like The Gambia where we've seen a democracy take root.  So certainly, again, there are push backs.  You know, we see dark things in Venezuela, Maduro....  authoritarian crackdowns from Nicaragua by Ortega. 

But when you look around, you see that young people haven't given up.  Freedom activists and democracy activists haven't given up.  And so, you know, my money's on them.  And we do see progress, but, yeah, it's -- definitely, we're in a competitive world, and we see authoritarians pushing back quite hard. 

What we want to do, is we want to come to places like Europe and show that there is another way.  We offer them self-reliance.  We offer them assistance to providing economic opportunities, transparency in governments, civic education.  We try to invest -- or try to foster investment in market-based economies so that the economies are growing, that young people have hope in their future.

So you really do see a rivalry.  You do see pushbacks by authoritarian governments saying, no, that causes people to be nervous and to worry.  But on the other hand, there are so many signs of a reason for optimism.  And again, my money's on the young people.

QUESTION: We should focus on them.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Most definitely.

QUESTION: There are two very important audiences for our channel.
Ukraine and the Caucasus. First of all, I would like to ask you about the Ukraine.  I guess you know that yesterday there was a tragic situation in the Crimea.  We would still consider it --

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: True.

QUESTION: -- the Ukraine territory.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: As do I.

QUESTION: Yes, that's very nice of you.  So anyway, is, I don't know, a part of your mission to help a society to get through such terrible situations as the shootings, or it's too local for you?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, and I can't -- I don't know enough about the situation in Crimea to be able to comment much because I have been traveling.  But I can tell you that I've been to Ukraine myself in previous work that I've done.  I've been to see the Heavenly Hundred.  I have been to the Maidan, and I have seen the evidence of what young people did courageously to push out an authoritarian government.  So we feel very strongly.  We stand with the people of Ukraine.  We're working close with them to create greater transparency.

So, for example, our partnership in Ukraine, we created an e-payment system.  And it's a way for governments to collect taxes and payments being made electronically, and that squeezes out fraud, waste, and abuse.  So it's a way the people can have an even greater confidence in their government.  That's an example of the kind of work we do in places like Ukraine.

QUESTION: So you don't think that all the positive changes are going slowly in Ukraine? Because it's a point of view that's been discussed a lot lately?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, I will say this: Ukraine has a ways to go, and -- and leaders need to keep pushing forward because I think the restless youth that have -- that pushed away Yanukovych, and the past administration, they're looking for reasons for optimism.  They're looking for economic growth.  They're looking for responsive government.  They want to see leaders that will help them build a brighter tomorrow.  We stand with them.  We seek to work with those leaders, and we have tools that are helping.  But absolutely, they need to continue to take on corruption.  Absolutely, they need to provide opportunities for young people.  They need to have transparency.  They need to be responsive.

QUESTION: I guess this will be the last question about the Caucasus.  I got the idea that basically, you know, you've think good ones will win.  But in this region, on the one hand, they have Armenia with a terrific story that is happening nowadays, pushing out and all that stuff.  And on the other hand, we have Chechnya with like, I don't know, Oyub Titiev case and all the memorial things.  And lately, there has been a (inaudible).  So what do you think?  What is the main problem in this area of the region?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, again, we don't go into regions and tell them what their problems are and what they must do.  What we seek to do is to work with young leaders to build that brighter future.  And that's true in the Caucasus as well.  So we view ourselves as allies of citizens, of allies of economic opportunity, allies of democracy and civil society. 

What we do is go country by country.  We, in fact, have something that we call a roadmap, which is 17 objective metrics where we look at what some of the challenges in the country are.  And we want to sit down with their leaders and talk about ways that we could help them realize the same kind of self-reliance that the Czech Republic has seen, the same kind of growth and economic opportunity that we've seen in the Czech Republic and other places.

So what we want to do is offer an opportunity for young people to build that brighter future, to have more responsive governance, and to really claim their birthright, which is opportunity.

QUESTION: Sorry.  This will be the very last question.  Were there any other countries like Russia, who rejected your help?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, again, --

QUESTION: This way or (inaudible).

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Sure, sure.  Well, again, we don't want to go where we're not wanted.  You know, what we offer is opportunity.

QUESTION: A chance.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: So, sure.  There are countries that may not like what we do in the sense that they don't believe in market-based economies, or they may not want to see strength in their civil society.  It's country by country.  You know, we -- and there are also countries that, quite frankly, have graduated from our work, countries that we have worked with that have risen to the point where some of the tools that we normally have, they don't need.  They're self-reliant.  Again, I look at what's happening in India.  And we're still working with India to help catalyze private investment, but this is a remarkable success story.  So there are lots of countries that we have left in the sense that --

QUESTION: They're doing okay now.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: -- they're -- well, they're doing very well.  In fact, they've gone -- you know, our goal is for countries to go from being recipients of assistance to fellow donors.

QUESTION: And providers.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: That's what we want them to do.  Sure, yeah.

QUESTION: That's very nice.  Thank you very much.  I won't take any more time.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: My pleasure.

QUESTION: My pleasure.