Jour 470 vlog recap

Georgia Turning West

Lost in the Shuffle

In my research for a previous blog entry (“Where in the World is Georgia?”) one little element of common knowledge about Georgia shocked me more than anything else: the ignorance of its very existence. Given more thought, however, I realized that this ignorance is not quite as deplorable as I originally thought. Georgia, after all, a barely thumbnail-sized country on a wall map of the globe, is just one of a slew of baby countries that were left over after the Soviet Union collapsed, nestled in among Armenia and Azerbaijan, with former Soviet satellite cousins Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and numerous others. More than twenty years after the Soviet Union fell to pieces, Georgia is still struggling to set itself apart from the other satellites, and the larger, dominating Russia.

Georgia, a poor country with a high unemployment rate, struggles to make itself known internationally.

Fighting Their Way West

Georgia, more than its neighbors, has done this by supporting the US in its military endeavors, with nearly 1,000 troops fighting in Afghanistan at this moment, according to Radio Free Europe. (It’s interesting to note that before the Americans and their Georgian allies, the Soviet Union was also entrenched in the Afghanistan quagmire.)

Eka Tkeshelashvili, head of Georgia’s National Security Council, told RFE, “The contingent we’re sending to Afghanistan might shame Western European countries in its size and content. But we’re not doing this to shame others, only to demonstrate that we’re ready to stand with our partners.”

This demonstration is all part of Georgia’s grander scheme to become a truly Westernized country: joining NATO. However, Russian news organization Gruzia news says that because of territorial disputes between Russia and Georgia over the northern regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, NATO was wary to let the country join right away, despite its commitment to helping the US in the Middle East.

Georgia’s plans to join NATO and be recognized as a Western country did move forward finally, when a NATO envoy visited the country last April, according to Civil Georgia, a Georgian news organization. Georgia is now moving to meet membership requirements, and James Appathurai, NATO’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, said that Georgia’s participation in Afghanistan was a factor in moving to let them join the Alliance. Currently, Georgia is not yet a member of NATO, but has decided to send more trips to Afghanistan, making it the largest non-NATO contributor to the Afghan operation, according to the Turkish Weekly, a news organization based in Turkey.

NATO envoy James Appathurai in Georgia capital Tbilisi last April.

Squabbling over Borderlands

Any and all of Georgia's efforts to define itself as a sovereign, Westernized nation, deserving of a NATO membership, however, are counteracted by its never-ending conflict with Russia and Georgia's northern regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia are regions that want to claim independence from Georgia, an independence that only Russia recognizes.

Repeated bombings in the regions are declared Russian terrorist attacks by the Georgian government, according to Civil Georgia. The Russian government, on the other hand, resents Georgia for claiming both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as part of the country's territory, and accuses Georgia of trying to start conflict.

The ill will between the two countries remain after two decades of Georgian independence as Russia tries to maintain some of the Cold War might it held, and Georgia struggles to define itself as a free nation.

Shaking off the Chains of Communism

Georgia is not just trying to set itself apart from Russia through shows of military prowess. Most recently, on June 1, the Georgian parliament voted into law the Freedom Charter, which declared that the government would purge the country of communist symbols left over from the Soviet days and ban former communists from taking roles in the government, according to Vestnik Kavkasa, a Caucasus news organization. The law was proposed by head of the “Strong Georgia” party Giya Tortladze and written by Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili. According to RussiaToday columnist Konstantin Kosachev, the Freedom Charter stands as a symbolic legislative gesture: Georgia is not the communist country that the Soviet Union was. They are Westward-facing, democratic capitalists. Kosachev questions,

however, whether this backlash against old communist habits is even necessary. Most communist parties in Russia are small, unorganized and lacking any political power, and Kosachev argues that the Freedom Charter is an unnecessary act in a country where communist sentiment is all but nonexistent.

And that is certainly true. Most of the country is eagerly looking forward to a NATO membership, with the Georgian press frequently running articles on the state of affairs. Though there are several communist parties in Georgia, most of them are small and unorganized, with no political power, and resent the Westerners as "invaders," according to Caucaz' article "The Last of the Georgian Communists." With the fall of the Soviet Union, communism in Georgia also fell apart.

Koko Gagoshvili, one of the few members of the Georgian United Communist Party.

English Lessons

In addition to officially condemning communism, the Georgian government is also showing its allegiance to a new Westernized country by adopting the language of both capitalism and Westernized countries: English. In September of 2010, the country began running a sort of exchange program to bring native English speakers to Georgian schools to teach English, according to Al Jazeera.

English is after 20 years officially supplanting Russian as the foreign language children learn in schools. Bridging the gap between Georgia and the West is more than just a language issue, though, said some participants in the program. Despite the students' eagerness to learn from their foreign teachers, the American participants say that racism, homophobia, and an intolerance for criticism of the program make teaching in Georgia difficult. Couple that with the high rates of poverty and unemployment, and many question whether it is worthwhile to import English teachers, according to the Al Jazeera article.

Georgian minister of education Dimitri Shashkini, however, argues that the English courses are absolutely necessary, and helping future generations of Georgians to get jobs and compete globally, taking the country into the international scene.

Doing Everything They Can

Now, the country is resolutely turned Westward, fighting as allies in wars led by Western countries, learning English and working to join Western organizations. Once they've been allowed into NATO, Caucaz says, Georgia may attempt to join the European Union, making it the Easternmost country geographically to do so. This is, of course, just a little reminiscent of Russia's attempts to join European culture under the Czars.

Bin Laden's Death Around the World

Western

CNN: “Yemeni al Quaeda angles for power after bin Laden’s death, source says”

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/05/18/yemen.al.qaeda/index.html?iref=allsearch

This story mainly focuses on the aftermath of the US’s relations with the Middle East post-Osama death. In a typical American-press fashion, it answers the question: “So what are the risks to us now?” A relatively short piece with very sparse sources, the article states simply that there are disputes between different factions of al Quaeda as to whether bin Laden’s successor is legitimate. It ends by essentially saying that Yemeni al Quaeda is a growing threat, and one more reason American’s should be afraid of terrorism and the Middle East.

FoxNews: “Should US Pressure Pakistan?”

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4691370/

I couldn’t really write about bin Laden’s death without something from Fox, because I grew up watching Fox talk about Osama bin Laden as Enemy #1. This video talks about how the US should relate to Pakistan. KT Mcfarland says that we are in a good position to use Osama’s death in Pakistan to force Pakistan to cooperate more. The entire video lays out how bin Laden’s death is beneficial for the US in the Middle East.

KT McFarland believes the US can use finding Osama in Pakistan as leverage against the country.

Non-Western

The Political Focus

Al-Jazeera: “The mythos of Obama and Osama.”

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/05/201152121358887979.html

In coverage of Osama’s death, Al-Jazeera ran an intriguing article comparing Osama (the villain in Western media) and Obama (the hero to the United States). Both are men ideals, says the article, though diametrically opposite in the end. Both men understood that they must wield power to establish their idea of an ideal society, and that power manifested itself violently for both men. Though Al-Jazeera condemns Osama bin Laden’s ideology and actions, saying, “Many Muslims did celebrate when Osama inflicted pain on the US. That was wrong,” the article is also very critical of Obama’s presidency, and his supporters, pointing out the similarity in today’s celebrations in the US. Unlike most of Western media, this article does not laud Osama’s death as a huge military victory, but nor does it say that retaliation is highly likely, saying instead that Osama’s Islam was not in alignment with much of the Middle East. Instead, the Muslim world is moving toward a new, freer Middle East, with the revolutions that have already been in progress before the death of Osama bin Laden, a fact that was not connected in Western media. As a news outlet based out of the Middle East, it makes sense that the article would carry such a Middle East-focused article.

More than any other source, Al-Jazeera made strong comparisons between Obama and Osama and their combative ideologies.

The Jakarta Post: “Bin Laden’s ghost to haunt world”

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/05/14/bin-laden%E2%80%99s-ghost-haunt-world.html

This Jakarta Post article picks up where Al-Jazeera’s left off. It mentions right from the outset that retaliation is a possibility, but not the important part of the story when discussing bin Laden’s death. Instead, it is important to consider the revolutions taking place Egypt and Tunisia. These revolutions, it says, “before the US operation to kill Bin Laden…the emerging democratic Arab revolutions had already, in just a few short months, done as much to marginalize and weaken his terrorist movement in the Islamic world as the war on terror had achieved in a decade.” Now, instead, the article states, the US needs to stop fighting in the Middle East, as well as stop funding religious extremists like the Wahhabi in Saudi Arabia. Instead, the US should let the revolutions run the natural course and bring democracy to the area. Seeing as Jakarta is based in Indonesia, the in-depth understanding of the political systems in the Middle East surprised me. The article was subtly biased against the US, but well-supported.

All Africa: “What’s next for al-Quaida in the Horn of Africa?”

http://allafrica.com/stories/201105200245.html

Like Western media coverage, this article spins Osama’s death as a good thing, “a relief” to most of the Horn of Africa, which was deeply affected by bin Laden’s actions in the 1990s, the author says. Al-Quaida-inspired extremism among Somalis has been common in the area, with numerous terrorist attacks. The article concludes by saying that, though it is uncertain, bin Laden’s death could mean a more peaceful world. It’s obvious from the historical timeline given in the article that the author has a location-related bias. Their life has been affected by the two decades of violence under al-Quaida, and they are hopeful for relief. Just reading the history made this inevitably clear.

The Emotional

Japan Today: “Bin Laden’s death makes it harder to find truth: mother of 9/11 victim”

http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/bin-ladens-death-makes-it-harder-to-find-truth-mother-of-911-victim

This article was very intriguing to me because of its deeply personal aspect, in comparison to the many other Western and non-Western articles, which centered on the political impact. In this article, the mother of a man killed in the 9/11 attacks says she first supported US involvement in Afghanistan, but “later changed her mind and came to think that violence only encourages retaliatory terrorism.” Now, the article says, she worries about bin Laden’s successor, and will never hear bin Laden testify as to why he encouraged the acts he did. The woman’s account clearly condemns the US for its actions, which is surprising considering that Japan is frequently in support of the US.

The "Who Really Cares?"

Georgian Daily: “South Caucasus Reactions—or the Lack of Them—to Bin Laden’s Death”

http://georgiandaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21424&Itemid=132

The article is a very short recap of the reactions to bin Laden’s death in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, but speaks volumes about the countries’ political situations. Georgia essentially said, “Go America!” while both Azerbaijan and Armenia, tensely trying to remain on good footing with the Middle East nearby and the United States, remained silent on the issue. The article succinctly explains that because of political tensions in the area, all three governments are more than busy keeping everything calm and have no time for the death of some distant terrorist figurehead.

Guadalajara Reporter: "Bin who? ‘El Chapo’ takes mantel of ‘world’s most wanted’"

http://guadalajarareporter.com/news-mainmenu-82/national-mainmenu-86/28971-bin-who-el-chapo-takes-mantle-of-worlds-most-wanted-.html

This is an intensely Mexico-focused article, talking about how, with bin Laden gone, Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman is now Interpol and the FBI’s most wanted person, a drug runner with the cartels. Though it’s hugely different from the other articles, I loved it for its Mexico focus. It doesn’t talk about political impact of bin Laden’s death, or the nation’s reaction, or revolutions.

Mexican press focused on more important enemies to the country: drug cartels.

Global Media: Twitter and News Abroad

First off, let's talk about Sud-Ouest. Although the paper's name indicates a focus on the south west of France, it really covers most of the west, and is one of the papers in France least affected by drops in subscriptions, mainly because of local focuses. They also have very good foreign reportage, and as I was searching the site, I found a lot on a French minister of funds who was arrested in New York this week for (alleged) sexual assault.


And next, some Twitter goodness. My Twitter account is one from my country, and the Twitter of Georgia news source GeorgiaTimes.info. The Twitter and website are in English, which makes understanding easier, especially since Google Translate is clumsy at best. The Twitter gives very short, not very descriptive accounts of articles, with links. But the articles themselves are very in depth, and you can scan topics by the brief descriptions on the Twitter.

Where In The World Is Georgia?

Georgia: not located near Kazakhstan.

Funny thing about the country of Georgia: if you ask most Americans, it doesn't exist.

Or if it does exist, it's in some nebulous region around Mongolia or perhaps Kazakhstan (in reality, Georgia is south of Russia, just to the east of the Black Sea, and sitting right on top of Armenia and Azerbaijan).

In an effort to ascertain what the average American knows about Georgia, I engaged in an Easter weekend poll, pestering every friend and relative I came across to find out how much they knew about my country of focus. My biggest finding of all, as I've said, is that most people don't know anything about the country.

My first interviewee, the 85-year-old grandmother of my roommate, glibly replied "Not a darn thing!" when I asked her what she knew about Georgia. This is not much of a surprise, seeing as she hasn't had much of a memory for the last four years, so I questioned her a bit about Soviet Russia, to see if that would bring back some memories, but she was incredibly vague on the subject. All she could really tell me for sure is that she had never been overseas.

What is of more concern is when I asked younger adults with fully-functioning brains, like my friend's Uncle Greg. Our interview went something like this:

Me: What can you tell me about Georgia the country?
Uncle Greg: Georgia? The country? Lots o' good peaches.
Aunt Laura: No, that's the state.
Uncle Greg: There's a country?

Once Aunt Laura, Uncle Greg's wife, had convinced him that yes, indeed, Georgia was a country, he was able to tell me that U2 would not be performing there in the near future, though this bit of information is derived not from Uncle Greg's knowledge of Georgia, but his immense passion for U2 (he will be seeing them play 8 times when they are in North America this summer). Neither Greg nor Laura knew where Georgia was located, or anything about its history.

My roommate's mother, Diane, who had prepared our sumptuous Easter dinner, wondered if maybe Georgia was in the southeast corner of Russia, but thought it was just a region in good old Mother Russia's domain.

This is where my roommate chimed in, surprising everyone. After beginning with her usual disclaimer that she doesn't really know much about anything, she said, "I know that the Olympic luge person died."

Paramedics rushed to save Georgian athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, without success.

A cry went up from most of the dinner table, as everyone remembered that a luger had died during a practice run down the luge course at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Uncle Greg remembered that "the guy's parents were on their way out to see him when he perished."

My roommate's father, Steve, was the most helpful. He knew that Georgia had once been a part of Soviet Russia.

"It was one of the countries that broke away from Russia, rebelled," Steve said.

Unlike his wife, Steve told me he believed Russia was near Armenia, which is spot on. When asked about recent events, he told me that he remembered a conflict in the region a few years back.

"It was a civil war type of thing," Steve said. There was some debate in the media at the time as to whether the battles constituted a civil war or a war between two sovereign nations.

At work, I interviewed my bosses, a young married entrepreneur-y couple.

When I asked man-boss if he knew anything about Georgia, his response was a simple, "No, I don't." Anything about it's location? "No, I don't." Anything about it in the news. "No, I don't." I wasn't sure if he was being unresponsive to tease me, because he rarely speaks except to take advantage of my gullibility, or if he was being honest.

Lady-boss, on the other hand, immediately placed Georgia beneath Russia geographically, and telling me she remembered watching news stories about the conflict with Russia.

"I can think of there being some sort of political upheaval and tanks in the streets," lady-boss told me, making her one of two people to remember the biggest American news story on Georgia in at least the last decade.

Tanks in the streets in South Ossetia, a northern region of Georgia that abuts Russia.

Displaced Georgians: Families Divided

A typical Georgian family united around the dinner table.

For most college students, it’s hard to imagine a world where you can’t get in the car and drive to Mom and Dad’s house for Spring Break or the occasional weekend at home. Traveling to see family plays a huge part in most Americans’ lives, whether it’s heading home for the holidays or flying to the grandparents’ house for Thanksgiving with the drunk uncles and batty old aunts.

In the United States, having a far-flung extended family is not only common, but expected.

For Georgians, however, families are not divided by choice but by political conditions, and these same political conditions keep them apart.

Georgia, a former Soviet state, is divided up into several different political regions, two of which, Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (or South Ossetia), are officially autonomous, according to the government of Georgia's official website. Conflicts left over from the Cold War resulted in the displacement of Georgians from both these regions. In Abkhazia in particular, anywhere from 160,000 to 247,000 Georgians had been displaced from their home, the ethnic Georgian region of Gali, according to Caucaz’ “Portrait of Displaced Georgians: Current Situation and Prospects.”

Georgians who do return to Abkhaz face several challenges there. These ethnic Georgians in the Abkhaz region are seen as outsiders by Abkhazians, and traitors to Georgia by their fellow Georgians. They also have difficulty obtaining Abkhaz ID documents because they are not ethnic Abkhaz.

More pertinent to the family issue, however, is the division of families over the Abkhaz border, or ABL, according to the article “Georgians in Gali,” by the Georgian Daily. Abkhaz, in the northernmost region of Georgia, is close to Russia, and many of the Abkhaz schools teach in Russian. Georgian families who want their children to learn in their native tongue often take their children across the ABL to schools in Zugdidi, a neighboring Georgian region. Most Georgians who go on to higher education after high school also leave their families and the Abkhaz region to attend universities in southern Georgia.

Crossing the border is not always an easy task, however. Prior to the Georgia-Russia war in 2008, there were four official crossing points for Georgians wishing to leave Abkhaz. Today, however, there is only one, and it is necessary to obtain a permit in order to leave or enter the region.

Unlike the United States, where traveling to visit relatives or going home can be a treat, for displaced Georgians, just being close to family or familiar culture is often a struggle. The prospect of going home to see the parents is not an occasional delight for Georgian college students but an ordeal and a political struggle with the local authorities.

A map from UNESCO's website shows Abkhaz is the north-western region of Georgia, abutting the Russian Federation.

American and Non-American by the Images

Some un-American things: crazy narrow streets, extremely old, historic buildings, and a generally relaxed take on nudity. Naked people are no big thing in most foreign media!



Some very American things: Protestantism (represented here by chastity rings, an American phenomenon), rap music and a heavily sexualized pop culture, in contrast with the chastity ring culture, and rednecks with tons of patriotism. Also, this is my friend Eric, who loves being American.