Two months of travelling around the western half of Russia and talking to people gave me an insight into life ignored by the news coverage, with a few surprises and some surprisingly normal aspects. If you’re old enough to retain images of Russia from the forlorn queues of the latter days of the Soviet Union or the grim economic distress of the 90s, modern Russia is going to come as a bit of a shock. Finding even a hint…
The people of Iraqi Kurdistan show us that just as much divides Kurdish people as unites them. Trying to decipher the goings on in the Kurdish regions spread across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran is confusing battle of acronyms: PKK, PYG, PUKD, YPG, KNC etc etc. Each region has its own jumbles of letters representing political parties and military groups, some of whose interests cross borders to link with other groups of capital letters. Sometimes they work together, sometimes they…
The hopes born of the Tunisian revolution seem distant memories now You’ll struggle to find many Tunisians with a good word to say about their government these days. In fact, in five weeks in the country I found precisely none. Students, taxi drivers, businessmen, builders, beggars and more, all had varying tales of dissatisfaction, often bordering on despair of their leaders. Corrupt and self-serving was the general theme of the complaints that have left many in a slump, resigned to…
How can you be bored with Morocco? I hear you say. It’s got ancient medinas pulsing with a myriad of sights, sounds and smells; mountain peaks and precipitous canyons; sweeping desert dunes and sun drenched surf; ancient history and modern nightlife; you can even get a beer if you really want one. Many people would quite justifiably demand far less of an ideal holiday destination, but I am not really an ideal holiday destination kind of guy, as regular readers…
Why Burkina Faso’s revolutionary president still matters Under the full moon glow in the warm Ouagadougou night, to the thud of ominous beats, the Congolese rapper strode onto the stage, declaring, “I may be from Congo Brazzaville but tonight, on the anniversary of the death of Thomas Sankara we are all Burkinabe”. For the first time in the night the previously subdued crowd roared in appreciation, from then on he could do no wrong. But why, twenty-nine years after he…
Who’s going to put Egypt back together again? “What do you think of President Sisi”, asked one of the charming young ladies who had been helping me buy a train ticket. “Well, er um”, I waffled, trying not to commit myself too much in one direction. We were, after all, standing by a group of people queueing for tickets and the wrong opinion, too firmly expressed has caused some to disappear without trace during his excellency’s reign. “I hate him”, she…
Is it possible to know less about what is going on in a country after you have visited? I certainly came away with this impression on leaving Ukraine. Sure, I learnt a bit about the history, food and the lengths of skirts but what about the big stuff in the news? As with other controversial geopolitical issues such as Israel/Palestine, Syria, Turkey and the Kurds, you only have to read the comments sections on many internet news sources to know…
A visit to the house of Ukraine’s former president Yanukovych With the success of the Maidan square protests in Feb 2014, President Yanukovych beat a hasty retreat to friendlier pastures with the aid of a Russian helicopter from his property on the outskirts of Kiev (or Kyiv as the Ukrainians would prefer to the russianised version we are familiar with). The citizens of Kyiv immediately jumped at the opportunity to find out for themselves if the rumours of the opulence…
Being the kind of guy that my government would denounce as a lefty liberal wuss I would normally praise with great fanfare a country that had managed to produce, not only a female prime minister but a leader of the opposition as well and particularly so when it’s a Muslim country. But, alas in this case, the two ladies have decided to take on all the characteristics that male leaders the world over have excelled in to ensure that they…
Only a short time ago it would have seemed inconceivable to most visitors that Thailand would return to a military dictatorship and its top tourist status in Asia come into question. But, what was once just a steady trickle of anecdotes and rumours about its dark underside has been propelled by the media spotlight on recent political upheavals into a torrent of evidence about the unpleasant reality behind the perceived happiness of Thailand. If there was some exceptional quality to…
