Articles in Struggles Between States
The Russian-Finnish Borderlands: Territorial Changes, Population Transfers, and Linguistic Changes
An earlier GeoCurrents post mentioned Finns among the nationalities deported by the Soviets before and during World War II. As it turns out, the situation in the Finnish borderlands is rather more complicated than that. The territory between St. Petersburg and Helsinki is home to a number of ethnic groups whose histories range from cultural and linguistic assimilation to population transfer to outright ethnic cleansing.
Maps as an Instrument of Propaganda, Part 1
Maps are ideally supposed to be objective depictions of reality, but they can also be used as an instrument of propaganda, portraying the world not as it is but as it is imagined by the cartographer. A recent post on the Russian historical website Diletant.ru includes a collection of such maps (posted also on the Propaganda History website), referred to as “symbolic maps”.
Porcelain Atlas of the Dutch Provinces at the Het Loo Palace, the Netherlands
As our readers know, we at the GeoCurrents team always keep an eye open for innovative, useful, and elegant maps. Naturally, I was mesmerized on my recent trip to the Netherlands to see a set of detailed maps done on… porcelain plates!
India to Send Tank Brigades to the China Border
India’s military recently announced that it would deploy two tank brigades to guard the country’s border with China, one to be stationed in Ladakh (in northeastern Kashmir), and the other in the north Sikkim Plateau. As Business Standard reports, “Such formations, equipped with main battle tanks and BMP-II infantry combat vehicles, are traditionally used for striking into enemy territory.”
Medvedev Could Care Less About Japan’s Reaction to His Visit to Kuril Islands
Tensions remain high between Russia and Japan over the legal status of the four Southern Kuril islands.
British ‘Hunter-Killer’ Submarine Sent to the Falkland Islands
As the 30th anniversary of the armed conflict between Argentina and the UK over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, diplomatic tensions over the future of these South Atlantic islands remain high. On May 19 Britain sent a nuclear submarine HMS Talent to the Falklands.
Border Disputes over Damansky Island and the Troubled Relations between Russia and China
In March 1969 Damansky/Zhenbao island became the site of a bloodbath which left several hundred Soviet and Chinese military and border guards dead. And even today this speck of land, together with two bigger islands near Khabarovsk, remains the focal point of simmering Russian-Chinese tensions.
Making a splash in El Calafate, Argentina
Argentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner – commonly known simply as CFK –recently celebrated her 59th birthday at her multi-million dollar residence in a small Patagonian town of El Calafate. But it is neither CFK’s birthday party nor the touristy shops that have attracted an avalanche of visitors to El Calafate in the last few days.
The food and wine of Georgia
Georgia has a rich and woefully underappreciated culture. Its history stretches back for millennia, and its literary traditions are deep. Georgia has its own epic literature, with The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin serving as the national classic. The poet, Shota Rustaveli, was prince and treasurer at the twelfth-century court of Queen Tamar of Georgia, under whose rule Georgia reached …
Saudi-Iranian Tensions and Shia Islam in Saudi Arabia
After the United States accused Iran of hatching an elaborate and ill-conceived plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, a number of commentators expressed incredulity, some wondering why the Saudi diplomat would be so targeted. The most common response to such questioning was to outline the history of Saudi-Iranian regional rivalry
Terranova: The Black Petaltail - A Novel
Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development (5th Edition)
Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World (3rd Edition)
