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Rising Tensions in Georgia: Historical Patterns of Conflict with Russia
The Rising Tensions in Georgia: A Reflection of Historical Patterns On the streets of Georgia, the atmosphere is beginning to resemble that of Ukraine from a decade ago, a time marked by escalating tensions with Russia that foreshadowed significant conflict. An increasingly authoritarian regime in this former Soviet republic is showing signs of cooling relations with the European Union, while…
What would a Russia-NATO war look like? Russia’s war games are simulating it right now.
What would a Russia-NATO war look like? Russia’s war games are simulating it right now.
LUGA, Russia — Russia moved into the main phase of the largest military exercises in years on Monday with a barrage of firepower to repel an imaginary, invading force resembling NATO as Russian President Vladimir Putin looked on. Under frigid rains, a revitalized Russian military sent tanks, paratroopers, artillery, antiaircraft weapons, jets and helicopters to engage the forces of a mock enemy…
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Abandoned with blue curtains (Vejprty, CZ; iPhone 6)
UZBEKISTAN
This documentary was produced by the “Indian Office of External Affairs” and highlights the connections between India and the former soviet republic of Uzbekistan, both historically and in the present day. It also does some sightseeing in several different parts of Uzbekistan itself, particularly the ancient city of Samarkand. This city was seen as the heart of the Silk Road, and even in what we might consider medieval times there were strong trade connections between this area and India. Today, Samarkand has been replaced by the modern capital of Tashkent, where much of the modern world trade is centered. This was a little bit of a different angle on this sort of thing and I actually found it fairly interesting, though as a non-Indian I think it assumed background knowledge of facts and history that I don’t necessarily have.
UKRAINE
“ATM Woman” is a documentary about the women from Ukraine who travel to Western Europe, away from their families, in order to earn money. They work as caregivers for the elderly, nannies, and other similar jobs. They all insist the Ukraine economy is terrible and there is no work for anyone. Back in Ukraine, many of their children are living relatively luxurious lives (aka lives that look like someone in an American suburb) with the money that’s sent back from places like Italy. But there are less jobs than there used to be and the system that’s in place may not be sustainable. Meanwhile, a generation of Ukrainian children grows up without their moms. The dads seem to be already out of the picture, which maybe is a different problem.
TURKMENISTAN
Basically no one has heard of this former Soviet republic in Central Asia, located north of Iran and south of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and even less people know that it’s one of the world’s most insular countries. Very few people are allowed to travel there, and those that do report that it comes off as a sort of a poor man’s North Korea, if such a thing is possible. There is a massive personality cult around the leader, who has created a beautiful capital city with crazy golden monuments to himself, surrounded by impoverished countryside. This film concentrates on the dictator who called himself Turkmenbashi (”leader of the Turkmen”) and was filmed in 2005. His whims were law and they were strange whims. He outlawed, among other things, lipsynching, beards, wearing makeup on TV, and gold fillings. Turkmenbashi died in December 2006 of an apparent heart attack, but he has since been replaced with a leadership cult around a new dictator and much of this still applies. It’s crazy stuff.
TAJIKISTAN
In poverty-stricken rural areas of this former soviet republic, there isn’t much work, so almost all of the able-bodied men go to Russia for much of the year to earn money for their families. The women remain behind and seem to be making their own society, helping each other with daily tasks like herding the sheep. It’s a beautiful place, but there’s no infrastructure, and it feels very isolated. I liked the one 16-year-old boy who has remained behind (so far) and “enjoys the attentions of all the girls.” At night there is singing and dancing around the campfire, but the older women worry that the teenage girls are doomed to a life married to men who aren’t even there.
MOLDOVA
This was a weird story about perhaps Europe’s most forgotten nation. It’s also one that I think was originally translated from German, so when somebody is talking in their native language, there are no English subtitles. This could have been a dealbreaker, but I chose to look at it more from a dadaist perspective. Moldova is a country that seemingly isn’t even sure it wants to be a country. Far moreso than in other former Soviet Republics, there appears to be a strong streak of nostalgia for the Soviet era. Unlike in the rest of the Eastern Europe, where there are decaying graveyards of toppled statues of Communist heroes, here they left them up. That could be because the end of the USSR brought “the worst peacetime economic collapse ever”... which may be fudging things, but suffice to say it was bad. Even today, incomes over the border in Romania are larger by a factor of ten. For me the biggest highlight was the opening, which features a band that basically seems to be the Moldovan Red Hot Chili Peppers.
