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Tag Archives: Caucasus
The Books: “Black Dog of Fate: An American Son Uncovers His Armenian Past” (Peter Balakian)
My history bookshelf. Onward. Next book on this shelf is a memoir called Black Dog of Fate: A Memoir by Peter Balakian. FanTAStic book if you haven’t read it. He came out with a new book last year – not … Continue reading
Focus on Georgia
Breakaway regions Georgia is a relatively small country. It is the size of West Virginia with 5 million people. But size does not matter. The place is as complicated and as intricate and as messed-up as the entire former Russian … Continue reading
Georgia Again
The people I marked a bunch of passages in a couple of books and articles as I was preparing for this morning, and then thought that I would compile them and list them out, index-style. It’s an interesting thing, to … Continue reading
Focus on Georgia
Shevardnadze By late 1991, Georgia was engulfed in a terrible civil war, spurred on by the power-hungry Georgian leader Gamsakhurdia, who has since been compared to Macbeth. Driven by his own personal demons, holed up in his castle, surrounded by … Continue reading
Focus on Georgia
The collapse of the USSR Georgia is a country dominated by outsiders, surrounded by enemies. They have no identity as a modern state. They were emasculated on every level by 74 years of Soviet tyranny. As a friend of mine … Continue reading
Focus on Georgia
History The enclave country in the Caucasus Mountains. It’s another one of those countries which may be in complete and utter chaos right now, but they have memories of being an empire. And I mean memory as in cultural memory. … Continue reading
Azerbaijan
Hatred and suspicion The following passage is from the book I keep mentioning: Imperium, by Ryszard Kapuscinski. Briefly, it has to do with the hatred and suspicion that exists between Armenia and Azerbaijan. With a couple of choice observations, Kapuscinski … Continue reading
Azeri Culture
Azerbaijan has been marched over by different empires over the millennia, absorbing, assimilating, intermingling, intermarrying. This has created a culture which is rich. A fusion of different elements. It has also led to a confusion in the populace. Who are … Continue reading
Azerbaijan
Government In the early 1990s, Azerbaijan was falling apart. It was conducting a war with Armenia, it was newly independent after decades of Moscow rule, the old communist system was cracking up, they had two official currencies, and they were … Continue reading
Azerbaijan: More
Oil Oil is nothing new to the region. Alexander the Great, as he waltzed his way through the region way back in those B.C. years, noticed methane gas, as well as Zoroastrian temples. Zoroastrians were fire worshippers from Persia, mostly. … Continue reading