WASHINGTON INSIGHT

THE AMERICANS ARE COMING! U.S. foundations and think tanks are flocking to Russia, throwing their money and brains into the post-Cold War drive for democracy and free markets. With grants, studies, workshops, manuals, training and advice, the Americans are aiding Russian reformers in and out of government. . . . The Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank once known for Communist-bashing, and the MacArthur Foundation, a Chicago-based group famed for its “genius grants,” have Moscow offices--and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is on the way. . . . Heritage has put out a manual, in Russian, on turning city services over to private interests. MacArthur is supporting newly liberated social scientists. Carnegie is opening a Moscow branch with Russians to tackle ethnic-conflict and arms-proliferation issues. The Soros Foundation is dishing out $100 million for scientific research and education in the former Soviet republics. The Ford Foundation is helping prepare Russian judges to return to trial by jury. “It is very exciting, a singular opportunity,” said Jeremy Azrael, an old Russia hand at the RAND Corp. think tank in Santa Monica, where analysts are collaborating with Russian officials and scholars on developing policies for migration, public health, education, environment and income security.