EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION

Dear readers -- women and men, dear regular contributors, and harsh critics, and those of you who have stood by us all these years, and those just now getting to know us!

It is our pleasure to present for your judgement this much-awaited issue. We did not expect it would be so long in coming, and we thank all of you who wrote and telephoned and sent new information to the editors, in spite of the unavoidable delay. We/My is starting a project to which we will dedicate three special issues. The first -- which you have in your hands -- looks at women's participation in the political decision-making process; the second is about the trafficking of women; the third focuses on gender censorship in culture and society.

The events of the last few months have greatly changed the world around us. The tragedy of September 11, the subsequent anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan, the threat of new acts of international terrorism have forced us to reconsider the whole sweep of contemporary history and political development. Today it is abundantly clear that no single country, no single family in any corner of our planet can feel completely safe. The world is fragile, and destructive forces in this age of globalization are no less cruel and dangerous than a hundred years ago. It has repeatedly been said that during this war on terrorism, women's issues have faded into the background of international discussions. But the thought has also been expressed that if women were more actively represented in power on every level and in every country, many things could have turned out differently.

We dedicate this current issue to the ways women take part in political decision-making in Russia and the countries of the CIS [Confederation of Independent States, formerly the Soviet Union]. The experience of countries with transitional economies shows that the "second sex" is consistently being wiped out of the national elite, and that the percentage of women representatives in national parliaments is steadily dropping. On the other hand, analysts provide evidence that on the local and regional level women are playing more active roles and proving themselves ready and able to come up with new strategies for bolstering society and government. This phenomenon has not been sufficiently understood in present-day terms. Here we give voice to diverse women - deputies of parliament and of district and regional law-making bodies, government employees, leaders of women's organizations. Hopefully, their views, their experience and energies will be of interest to you.

We await your responses and look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration!

Yours truly, Nadezhda Azhgikhina