Category: TRAVEL

JAPAN

Ravina’s history is helpful in preparing for a trip to Japan because it offers some basis for comparison and understanding.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Understanding Japan (A Cultural History)

Lecturer: Mark J. Ravine

By:  The Great Courses: Civilization & Culture

Mark J. Ravina (Professor of History at Emory University with an M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford.)

In preparation for a trip to Japan this fall, it seems prudent to hear from someone who knows something about Japan’s culture and history. Professor Ravina specializes in Japanese history with focus on 18th and 19th century Japanese politics; however, these lectures go farther back and forward than his specialty. There is so much detail in these lectures, one is unable to fairly summarize what Ravina reveals.

Japan is an archipelago made up of 14,125 islands with 260 of which are occupied. The four main islands are Honshu (the home of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka), Hokkaido to the north, Kyushu to the south, and the smallest Shikoku (between Honshu and Kyushu).

Like the history of any nation that has existed since the 4th century CE, Japan’s culture has evolved based on influences that came from within and outside its borders. From indigenous beliefs to exposure to areas outside its territory, Japan has changed its traditions and culture. The rule of Japan has ranged from imperium to a battle-hardened warrior class to a popularly elected intellectual class influenced by internal and external societal and political events. At times, each social class has offered both stability and conflict. In the 20th century, of course, Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor dramatically changed its economy and influenced its society.

Japanese Emperor.

In Japan’s early centuries, an imperial and aristocratic class rose to rule Japan. The Asuka, Nara, Helan emperors during the Fujiwara era (538-1185) were respected and revered but the rise of the samurai class turned emperors into influencers more than exercisers of power. Power becomes centralized in a society that is highly stratified with nobility, Buddhist clergy, samurai, farmers, and artisans. Before 1185, territorial regents developed their own armies by relying on feudal lords who had their own warrior clans that became the fierce samurai of legend and reality.

As regents of Japan gained power and influence, emperors became symbols of culture more than centers of power. Rule and administration of territories became reliant on the power of a samurai class that at first supported the regents but soon became the true rulers of Japan.

Loyalty, honor, and focus on victory or death changed the management class and encouraged society to revere a Zen aesthetic, a belief in simplicity, naturalness, imperfection, and quiet depth. The samurai became a power behind the thrown in the 12th century and eventually the de facto rulers of Japan with emperors becoming more ceremonial. Leading samurai became Shoguns, hereditary military rulers of Japan. Emperors were revered, but their power diminished with growing influence of Shoguns that held power for nearly 700 years from 1185 to 1868.

Samurai leadership unified Japanese society.

Ravina explains the samurai period of Japan matured in the 12th century which evolved into rule by the strongest. Samurai influence shaped the political, social and philosophical identify of the people. In what is called the Edo period of the samurai from 1603 to 1868, there were long periods of peace and prosperity like that of the Tokugawa shogunate in the modern-day Tokyo area of Japan. The Edo period lasted for 250 years. Literacy grew during this period and was tied to governance, law, and moral instruction. Religious practices became more ritualized with meditation and subtlety different spiritual beliefs. A merchant class is formed during this period and the arts, like calligraphy and theatre performances, became more widely practiced. Kabuki theatre becomes an entertainment with a reputation ranging from the ethereal to debauched.

Ravina explains samurai values are not abandoned but are recast to focus on industrialization of Japan in the 19th century.

By the end of the ninetieth century, 95% of the citizens had been educated in schools, compared with just 3% in 1853. The samurai became leaders in modern institutions and businesses. They followed a samurai code called Bushido with core values of rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honor, loyalty, and self-control. Emphasis is put on living with purpose, discipline, and moral clarity.

A Japanese garden.

Ravina notes Japanese culture is exemplified by garden creations that represent the religious and philosophical ideals of its residents. The Japanese take great pride in their tea gardens, rock gardens, strolling gardens, some of which have become UNESCO heritage sites. The Japanese revere nature because it represents the Zen principles of simplicity, naturalness, imperfection, and the depth of a quiet life. Gardens are considered spiritual and moral spaces for quiet contemplation.

Ravina suggests Japan, like America and most nations of the world, has not abandoned its past but has adapted to the present based on what has happened in its past. Ravina’s history is helpful in preparing for a trip to Japan because it offers some basis for comparison and understanding.

MARS & BEYOND

Mahaffey is a supporter of nuclear energy and its potential for earth’s energy needs. He argues fission can be made a useful source of energy while fusion research holds the best opportunity for humanity’s future.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Atomic Adventures (Secret Islands, Forgotten N-Rays, and Isotopic Murder-A Journey into the Wild World of Nuclear Science.)

By: James Mahaffey

Narrated By: Keith Sellon-Wright

James Mahaffey (Author, Research scientist at Georgia Tech Research Institute)

“Atomic Adventures” is a reminder of the race for the atomic bomb, its wide pursuit by nations of the world, and research for the holy grail of atomic fusion. Mahaffey’s science explanations are tedious for non-scientists, but his history of the secrets and use of atomic energy are interesting and surprising.

The United States, with the help of the UK, may have been first to acquire the atom bomb in 1945, but eight more nations acquired it by 2006.

United States: Acquired in 1945.

Russia (formerly the Soviet Union): Acquired in 1949.

United Kingdom: Acquired in 1952.

France: Acquired in 1960.

China: Acquired in 1964.

India: Acquired in 1974.

Israel: Believed to have acquired in the late 1960s, though it maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity.

Pakistan: Acquired in 1998.

North Korea: Acquired in 2006

It is somewhat ironic that Pakistan did not acquire the atom bomb until 1998 when Pakistan’s “father of the bomb”, Abdul Qadeer Khan, became a rich man by selling technological know-how of the bomb to nations like North Korea, Libya, and Iran.

Abdul Qadeer Khan

Abdul Qadeer Khan (1936-2021, father of Pakistan’s atomic weapons program, died at age 85.)

As a singular discovery, Einstein’s E = mc² offered a dual opportunity for the world, i.e., destruction and/or survival of the human race. The bomb suggests destruction while nuclear fusion offers an inexhaustible energy source that could reverse global warming and rocket human beings to other worlds.

ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879-1955, died at age 76.)

Mahaffey explains the immense potential of nuclear power as a principal source of energy. History shows nation-state and political conflicts may spin nuclear power out of control to kill millions and devastate the environment. On the other hand, nuclear research and power offer avenues for humanity’s survival and longevity.

Mahaffey notes there were Japanese, as well as better known German scientists, who were working on the creation of a nuclear bomb that could destroy Allied armaments and combatants. The rush to weaponize radiation during WWII surprisingly includes research being done by Japan as well as Germany during WWII. America won the research race because of superior human and financial resources that could be marshalled to complete the scientific research and experimentation needed to perfect a nuclear weapon.

Mahaffey explores the creation and destructive history of the atom bomb.

Surprising to some listeners, Mahaffey explains Argentina’s significant effort to increase its research and development of nuclear power after WWII. Argentina created the National Atomic Energy Commision in 1950. The chief researcher, hired by President Juan Perón, was Ronald Richter (1909-1991), an Austrian-born scientist who headed their plan to create a fusion power facility. Richter fails but nuclear energy remains an important part of Argentina’s history. In the 1960s they built their own research reactors and by 1974 built their first fission nuclear power reactor, Atucha I. By 1984, they had two heavy-water reactors with Atucha I and Atucha II.

Ronald Richter (1909-1991, Austrian-born German who became an Argentine citizen who headed up the Argentine Huemul Project to create a nuclear fusion power plant. He failed, despite the millions of dollars spent to build and rebuild fusion power plants.

Image result for ronald richter

Yoshio Nishina (the father of modern physics research), Bunsaku Arakatsu, and Masatoshi Okochi created the so-called Ni-Go and F-Go projects to develop an atom bomb. They did not get beyond the laboratory stage because of a lack of resources, the exigency of war, and the complexity of nuclear technology. The energy of nuclear power, as shown by history, is two edged.

Yoshio Nishina (1890-1945, the father of modern physics research during WWII.)

On the one hand it can be used to purposely or accidently destroy humanity.

Image result for medical use of nuclear energy

On the other nuclear radiation can heal the sick

and potentially provide a clean renewable energy source.

Mahaffey explains how research in fusion can go awry. In a news article, two chemists reported in 1989 that fusion was created in their experiment by involving heavy water (deuterium oxide) and palladium electrodes. They reported excess heat production that they believed was nuclear fusion. As with all scientific experiment, their results had to be confirmed by other scientists testing of their results in the same experiment. Mahaffey, in his role at the Georgia Research Institute, was asked to replicate the experiment. Using the same tabletop experiment, Mahaffey initially confirmed Fleishmann’s and Pons’ findings. However, no other table-top experiments found the same results. What Mahaffey finally found was that the neutron counting device that was recording increased heat was the actual source of the heat increase, not the chemical interaction between heavy water and palladium electrodes. Further research is being conducted but the U.S. Department of Energy concluded in 2004 there is no convincing evidence to support cold fusion. Tests are still being done but Mahaffey infers that research is a scientific dead end. Mahaffey and a colleague tried again in a basement of his colleague’s house to try a similar experiment and failed.

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance landing: Everything you need to know | Space

Nuclear power has the potential to revolutionize interplanetary travel. The higher efficiency and power, particularly with the perfection of fusion, will shorten travel times and make trips to Mars and beyond more feasible.

Mahaffey explains how communication will be a challenge when interplanetary travel becomes common. The distance to other planets or galaxies will impede communication because of the limits of the “speed of light”. However, the solution may lie in quantum entanglement’s experimental proof found by Clauser, Aspect, and Zellinger. The complexity of entanglement makes the theory unprovable at the time of Mahaffey’s book.

In theory, quantum entanglement suggests information (communication) may be instantaneously transmitted across galaxies without the limitations of the speed of light.

Mahaffey goes on to explain the risk of radiation in a chapter about a “dirty bomb”. Security measures used to protect the public from radiation leaks make thieves believe something valuable is being secured by government laboratories. Thieves will steal these secure containers only to find they are risking death by opening their booty. Additionally, Mahaffey notes radioactive material is often disposed of illegally and irradiates innocent people who own dump sites that received inadequately contained radioactive material.

Mahaffey is a supporter of nuclear energy and its potential for earth’s energy needs. He argues fission can be made a useful source of energy while fusion research holds the best opportunity for humanity’s future.

FREEDOM’S COST & VALUE

Freedom, once it is experienced, is an unconquerable force. Conquest of Ukraine, the Baltics, or Taiwan would be a pyric victory at a cost far in excess of a conquerors’ perceived value.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Return of Great Powers (Russia, China, and the Next World War)

By: Jim Sciutto

Narrated By: Jim Sciutto

Jim Sciutto (Former American news anchor for ABC, national security correspondent for CNN, Yale graduate majoring in Chinese history.)

Jim Sciutto has been seen by many on television. One suspects few know he served as the Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to China between 2011 and 2013. His book, “The Return of Great Powers” is interesting but not particularly revelatory. It was written before today’s news of the blows to Iran’s role in the Middle East with the removal of Syria’s brutal leader and Israel’s increased attacks on Hezbollah and Hamas. Tragically, there is always death of innocents in war. The question is whether war is ever worth its cost.

Sciutto certainly has a better grasp of China than most Americans based on his education and experience but his general analysis of the “…Great Powers” and their return is more topical than insightful.

The rise of Putin and Xi have certainly changed the world. Newspapers and television are full of stories about these leaders’ dance around the war in Ukraine. Xi offers moral and financial support to Putin, along with some important weapon components needed by the military, but China limits military equipment and direct munitions provisions for the war. China may benefit from Russia’s Ukraine invasion because of Xi’s expressed interest in acquiring Taiwan but China’s advances have not moved much from where they were before the invasion.

What seems clear today, particularly in Sciutto’s book, is that Putin has made too many mistakes in his invasion of Ukraine.

Putin’s apparent disregard for Russian soldiers’ deaths undoubtedly threatens his influence with many Russian citizens. Some of America’s media suggest Putin is becoming more conscious of his political and personal vulnerability. It is reported by Gleb Karakulov. a Russian engineer and defector who fled to Kazakhstan, that Putin has become paranoid and increasingly isolated.

Sciutto suggests Estonia is on a Putin invasion list once Ukraine has been conquered.

Having recently returned from the Baltics, occupation of Estonia would be a pyric victory for the same reasons as the Ukraine invasion. The hate for Russians one hears from Baltics’ residents (Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latavian) who were under the rule of Russia from 1940s to 1991 is palpable. The jail cells, torture, and murder of Baltic citizens by Russia is detailed by tour guides from each country. The prosperity of the Baltic countries since 1991 is a tribute to freedom that will not be given up easily by its people. At best, Russia may be able to occupy the Baltics, but citizen resistance would far outweigh any value occupation might offer.

Sciutto goes on to imply Taiwan will lose its independence to China.

The picture of death and destruction he outlines with China’s overwhelming military might mitigates against China’s success. Once freedom is experienced, it is like genies in a bottle–difficult to be re-imprisoned. Whether NATO or America will come to Taiwan’s aid is unknown, but like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s interest in the Baltics, the price to be paid is higher than the reward they can expect.

Freedom, once it is experienced, is an unconquerable force. Conquest of Ukraine, the Baltics, or Taiwan would be a pyric victory at a cost far in excess of a conquerors’ perceived value.

POLAND, THE BALTICS, & FINLAND

Our tour of the Baltic countries reveals evidence of Stalin’s brutality and the fear it created in the Baltic countries between 1945 and 1990-91. The same fate may be in store for Ukraine if Putin’s invasion succeeds.

Travel

Written by Chet Yarbrough

It’s been a while since our last trip out of America because of Covid. Poland, the Baltics, and Finland were my first choice because of their troubled history with Russia. The depth and breadth of these five countries’ history is a reminder of what is at stake with the invasion of Ukraine.

In traveling to Poland, the Baltics, and Finland, one’s understanding of political suppression becomes crystal clear. In contrast to the Baltics and Finland, Poland is the most often invaded of the five countries. The Mongol empire invades Poland in the 13th century, the Swedish Monarchy in the 17th, Russia, Prussia, and Austria partition Poland in the 18th, and in two world wars Russia and Germany vie for Poland’s land in the 20th. It is little wonder that Poland chooses to be a haven for Ukrainians when Russia invades Ukraine in the 21st century. Poland understands the hardship of invasion and suppression by a foreign power.

Poland’s sovereignty has been challenged by many invasions, beginning with the Mongol empire in the 13th century.

Genghis Khan (1162-1227.)

Traveling across Poland makes one understand why it has been invaded so many times. Poland’s lush countryside is a reminder of Ukraine’s agricultural reputation as the breadbasket of Europe.

To invaders, the wealth of Ukraine is like the wealth of Poland. Poland’s elaborate salt mine at Wieliczka was established in the 13th century. It played a crucial role in Poland’s economy when salt was referred to as “white gold”. Adding to Poland’s agricultural value is its industrial growth and its obvious economic prosperity; not to mention its strategic location as pathway to East and West European countries.

Beyond its wealth, Poland’s culture birthed the great composer, Frederic Chopin and renowned Pope, John Paul II.

The atrocity of the Holocaust is made real and unforgettable to visitors of the Auschwitz’ death camp in Poland. One shutters with a view of work camps, gas chambers, shoes and clothes of over a million people gassed by the Germans at Auschwitz. Upon liberation of Auschwitz, the German commander is hung from the U-shaped posts erected at the camp. How could this mass murder have happened? Tragically, mass murder is happening today.

Man’s inhumanity to man is evidenced in Ukraine, Myanmar, Yemen, Ethiopia, Israel, and Gaza. No country in the world that wages war, either defensively or offensively, is without innocent blood on their hands.

After this brief exposure to Poland, we fly to Lithuania. Here we find the atrocity of Stalin’s Russia as the tyrant of the Baltics after WWII. One’s ignorance of the history of Russia’s tyrannical rule is concretely revealed by a woman who is a survivor of Stalin’s takeover of the Baltics in 1945. A version of her story is told in “Between Shades of Gray” which was recommended by our guide on this trip.

The subject of “Between Shades of Gray” is a young girl and her brother’s survival during Stalin’s invasion of the Baltics. Much of what is written in Ruta Sepetys’ book is a reflection of what this spry octogenarian survivor explains happened to her and her family in 1945. Her name is Lina Vilkas.

Ms. Vilkas explains this is a replica of the rail car used to transport Lithuanians to work camps in Siberia.

One hole in the floor of a similar box car is a toilet for its overcrowded Lithuanian’ prisoners.

The Baltics were ruled by Russia until the early 1990s. Lithuanian independence is declared in 1990: Estonia and Latvia independence in 1991. After touring Lithuania, the cruelty of imprisonment, torture, and murder of Baltic residents is revealed in a tour of jail torture cells, and work farms. The tour evidence is reinforced by vituperative comments by home-hosted’ survivors of Russia’s 45-year dictatorial rule. The fear of reprisal and murder kept most Lithuanians in line. The hate and distrust of Russians seems palpable in the Baltics. Even Gorbachev is viewed by our guide as a mere functionary, not liberator of the Baltics. Forgetting may come with time, but forgiveness seems unlikely.

These pictures are of one of the Russian prisons in which Lithuanian citizens were held. The lower left shows a rubber floored room in which prisoners who were losing their mind were detained. The chamber to its right is a killing chamber where prisoners received a bullet to the back of the head. The bucket above these two pictures is a toilet for a cell, only emptied after smells must have permeated the hallways. Constant surveillance, torture, and demonstrated murders kept Baltic prisoners in line and the general public in fear.

To lighten our tour’s mood, these distressful reminders of Russian torture and murder, a brief trip is taken to a folklore and witches’ park in Neringa, Lithuania.

The most remarkable thing about travelling through the Baltics while listening to guides and economy lecturers is how industrially successful the Baltics have been since their liberation in the 1990s. Taxes are represented as more burdensome than in America, but residents appear benefitted from that tax burden when one sees how prosperous the Baltics appear to short-term visitors. Few homeless people are seen in the city. The cobble stone streets are constantly being repaired; new development is seen everywhere; luxury goods are seen in stores throughout the city.

The fear felt when Russia ruled the Baltics seems gone. Fear seems replaced by optimism for the Baltic’s future as members of the European Union. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine represents an ever-present concern to the Baltics new way of life. One wonders if that threat might lead to a military response from the Baltics like that of North Korea’s alleged troop deployment in Russia’s war in Ukraine. That seems doubtful but no one away from armed and deadly conflict can know.

Taking a bus to Neringa, Lithuanian, our guide takes us to a beach on the Baltic Sea. Here, we search for amber, a fossilized tree resin that ranges in color from yellow, to brown, green, blue, or black. Amber is a jeweler and hobbyist collectors dream, found primarily around the Baltic Sea. Few tourists leave the Baltics without a piece of amber to remind them of the trip.

Baltic Sea amber search.

Next, we head to Rukundziai, Lithuania to visit an abandoned and preserved missile base. Later we visit the countryside: a tourist attraction called the “Hill of Crosses”, a cultural heritage site that honors friends and family that have died. Thousands of crosses have been placed to commemorate those who have passed. The jumble of crosses is immense.

We are on our way to Riga, the capital of Latvia. Here, we visit a massive public market held in five former blimp hangars, reassembled in the heart of Latvia. Every spice and consumer product one can think of seems on display. Flowers are everywhere. Like Lithuania, Riga is a modern city with a well-known University. We spend part of the day in the city but head to the country for a visit to a goat farm. Like Poland and Lithuania, Latvia impresses travelers with its industry, farming, and economic growth.

Our final stop in the Baltics is Tallinn, Estonia which will be our port of debarkation to Finland. We visit Peter the Great’s summer home, a massive property which has become a national Russian and West European’ art museum. The Palace was not completed before the King died but its grounds are a sight to behold. Though Peter the Great was a 17th century Russian Czar, he was an enlightened monarch who had interests in science, technology and natural science. From the perspective of Estonian citizens, he brought interest in improving general education for the young.

We depart Estonia by ferry. Our ship is crowded with tourist buses, transport vehicles and citizens from all over the world. The two-hour crossing is a pleasure, accompanied with food, refreshments, and spectacular Baltic Sea views.

What one recognizes on this trip is the great concern the three Baltic countries have of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

We take a ten-story ferry across the Baltics to visit Finland.

Helsinki is a modern 21st century city, Finland’s capitol. We visit a state-of-the-art library that serves the public with everything from sound studios to AI model makers to classes to private reading/discussion rooms. Finland’s reputation as the happiest country in the world starts with a state-of-the art education system. On a field trip, our 16-person group visits a state subsidized farm in the country. It is a large farm with a short growing season that is supplemented by horse and farm animal stabling during the winter. It is surprisingly managed by a young couple, one of which is a descendant of the original owners. Management seems somewhat lay-back by American farming standards. It appears the farm could not exist without Finland’s government subsidy. The young couple seem underqualified farmers–more like hosts to a culture that would not survive without government help.

As is well known, Finland has a long border with Russia. In defense of their country, the Finns allied themselves with the Nazis during WWII. They are reported to have protected Finnish Jews from the Nazis, but fear of Russian encroachment was judged to require a devil’s bargain during WWII. In a previous trip to Finland, a guide explains a tenuous relationship with Russians that allows easy travel between countries because of their long border with Russia. The Finns are respectful but undoubtedly with watchful eyes. Finland refuses to be intimidated by Russia. By the same token, Russia appears disinclined to interfere with Finnish governance.

Many citizens feel they could be the next target of aggression by Russian oligarchs being led by today’s reincarnation of a Stalin in Vladimer Putin clothes.

The story of Holodomor and today’s Ukraine invasion show the depth of Russian government venality. Our tour of the Baltic countries reveals evidence of Stalin’s brutality and the fear it created in the Baltic countries between 1945 and 1990-91. The same fate may be in store for Ukraine if Putin’s invasion succeeds.

IN THE ROOM

How close is the world to its next world war? The character of today’s leaders seems as threatening as Stalin and as unpredictable as Churchill.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Stalin Affair (The Impossible Alliance That Won the War)

By: Giles Milton

Narrated By: Giles Milton

Giles Milton (Author, British writer and historian.)

Giles Milton offers a fascinating and well written account of the dynamics of the relationship between Churchill and Stalin with a brief analysis of Franklin Roosevelt that shows a difference of opinion about Stalin. There are some surprises in Milton’s history of the beginning and ending of WWII and the role of Joseph Stalin.

As is well known, Stalin and Hitler made a pact at the beginning of the war that made them allies with a plan to divide Europe between their two countries.

The pact falls apart when Hitler chooses to invade Russia on June 22, 1941. Germany made rapid progress and was nearing Moscow when winter struck, and Germany’s wheels of war were stuck in the mud. Stalin was psychologically paralyzed by Germany’s decision to turn against Russia. He hid in his dacha, his second home in the Russian countryside. A delegation of Russians went to the Stalin’s dacha and pleaded with him to direct the defense of Russia against Germany’s onslaught. Stalin is surprised that the delegation wanted him to return to the leadership of Russia in Milton’s telling of the story. One presumes that reluctance is because of Stalin’s mistake in believing Hitler could be a reliable ally in their mutual desire to expand their territories.

Milton’s history has a particular interest to me because of a planned personal visit to the Baltics next month.

In reading a book about the Baltics during WWII, there seems some confusion among the Baltic countries because their sovereignty is being usurped by Russia while the instigator of WWII is Germany. The guide on the trip suggests we read “between shades of gray”, a book written by Rusa Sepetys, a Lithuanian born American writer. Sepetys story is of Lithuania intellectuals being arrested by Stalin’s troops and carted off to Siberia. Brief mention of the Germans is mentioned but implies the Germans were not the enemy but an opposing force of the Russian attack on the Baltics. Having visited Finland last year, it is interesting to find the Finns allied themselves to Germany during WWII because of their fear of Russia’s aggression. Now, having read Sepetys novel of Russian aggression in early 1941, one begins to understand the complexity of which side of the war the Baltics chose to be on.

Ruta Sepetys (Lithuanian born American writer.)

It tells the story of Russia’s invasion of the Baltics soon after Hitler’s decision to attack Russia.

WWII in the Baltics is not Milton’s history, but Sepetys offers a footnote on its consequence in the Baltics.

Milton makes one feel they are in the room when decisions are made about the progress and ending of WWII. It is a fascinating story. Stalin is a villain in sheep’s clothing. His lust for power is unquenchable. Winston Chruchill is shown to be more aware of Stalin’s intent than Franklin Roosevelt. At Yalta, where the peace plan is agreed to and signed, Milton explains Roosevelt is feeble. The Yalta conference took place in February 1945. Roosevelt dies in April, two months later. Stalin’s ambition is the expansion of the U.S.S.R. and anything that gets in the way of that ambition is an obstacle to be overcome or removed.

Milton’s access to historical documents, reveals the many important roles of government leaders during WWII and after.

Of course, the most obviously impactful leaders are Churchill and Stalin, but the author notes the roles of lesser-known participants like Averell Harriman, Kathy Harriman, and Vyacheslav Molotov. There is also the role of Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin’s head of the NKVD (the Soviet secret police).

W. Averell Harriman (1891-1986, American politician, businessman, and diplomat.)

Averell Harriman, as the son of a wealthy railroad baron, becomes the founder of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., an investment company. He became one of the richest men in America.

Harriman is asked by Roosevelt to become the America’s diplomatic contact with Great Britain to manage the Lend-Lease Program before America enters the war. As a personal envoy, he strengthens the alliance between Britain and America. Later he becomes Ambassador to the Soviet Union after Hitler’s betrayal of Stalin. Milton touches on the married Harriman’s attraction to women and his extramarital affairs. However, Harriman was revered by Churchill, and later Stalin, for the aid he coordinated for both countries during the war.

Kathleen Harriman (1917-2011, died at age 93.)

A lesser-known role is of Harriman’s daughter, Kathy Harriman. In the first years of contact between her father and Stalin, Ms. Harriman smooths America’s relationship with the Russian administration.

Ms. Harriman leaned to speak Russian and aided her father in his diplomatic contact with Soviet officials. She became a correspondent for the International News Service and Newsweek during her time in Russia. In 1944, Ms. Harriman exposes the mass murder of 22,000 Polish officers by the NKVD, at the order of Stalin. She plays a role in the Yalta Conference in assisting the American delegation with logistics and management.

Milton makes a listener feel like they are in the room at a dinner table with Stalin and Churchill when they exchange harsh words about the creation of a western front to aid the Russian army in the fight with German soldiers.

Stalin demeans the British army for their early failures in the war when they were outnumbered and outgunned by the Germans. Churchill is deeply offended by the disparagement and is on the verge of canceling a dinner with Stalin before leaving Russia. His anger is quelled by Harriman. Churchill changes his tone with the Russian leader and mends their relationship over cigars and alcohol. However, there is little doubt about their continued acrimony and Churchill’s unshaken belief in Stalin’s intent to expand his empire.

Milton offers the same “in the room” understanding of what happens at the Yalta Conference.

Germany is divided into four occupation zones which ended up being East and West Germany. The groundwork for the United Nations is formed with the aid of promoting international cooperation and prevention of future conflicts. A zone of influence is created between Eastern European Countries which were added to the U.S.S.R., to expand a buffer zone between Russia and the Western Powers. This iron curtain results in the cold war. The table is set at Yalta for the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi and Japanese leaders and for future reparations to rebuild Europe.

“The Stalin Affair” is an excellent reminder of WWII that makes one think about what is happening today with Russia in Ukraine and Israel in Gaza. How close is the world to its next world war? The character of today’s leaders seems as threatening as Stalin and as unpredictable as Churchill.

THE BALTICS

Traveling to other countries is more interesting because of what writers of fiction and history have to say.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“The Dogs of Riga” A Kurt Wallander Mystery

By: Henning Mankell, Laurie Thompson-translation

Narrated By: Dick Hill

Henning Georg Mankell (1948-2015, deceased Swedish author, social critic, and playwriter.)

We are planning a trip to the Baltics in October of 2024. As in previous trips, this blog has been used to memorialize former travel experiences and this American’s view of other countries. Prior to traveling, some books are recommended by tour guides as introductions to other cultures. “The Dogs of Riga” and “The Lilac Girls” are two that offer some information about the Baltics. “The Lilac Girls” is a history of incarcerated women at Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany during WWII. The Nazis were researching the efficacy of drug treatment and prosthesis for injured soldiers by amputating arms and legs of imprisoned women to study regeneration of bone and the utility of prosthesis for lost arms or legs. Many of these young women were from the Baltics, though the largest number came from Poland.

Having heard of Henning Mankell’s mysteries (of which there are many), Kurt Wallander is a reoccurring character as an investigative Swedish detective.

The relevance of “The Dogs of Riga” is in the transition that was occurring when Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia achieved independence from the U.S.S.R. The Baltics had been a part of and controlled by the U.S.S.R. since 1940. Mankell’s book was first published in 1992, one year after the 1991′ dissolution of the U.S.S.R.

Riga Technical University (Engineering Center in the Baltics)

It is interesting to find in “The Dogs of Riga” that Wallander’s daughter chooses to go to Riga for her college education which makes one wonder why Riga would be chosen. Is it because of the quality of education or just to be further away from family? In any case, the reason these books are recommended is to give some perspective to new visitors of other countries. An interesting observation one makes about “The Dogs of Riga” is a sense of resentment from the Latvians about Russia and their former domination of the Baltic States.

Season 3, Episode 2 of “The Dogs of Riga” on Masterpiece Theater.

Going back to the story, two Russians were shot in the heart, and set adrift on a raft in Swedish waters. Autopsy shows the Russians were well dressed indicating wealth. It was found they had high concentrations of amphetamine in their bodies. In investigating the murders, Wallander finds they came from Riga, the capitol of Latvia. An officer from Latvia goes to Sweden to talk to Wallander. After the visiting officer returns to Riga, he is murdered and Wallander is asked to come to Riga to investigate his death.

With the opening of Latvia to the western world, freedom from communist controls is a mixed blessing.

Mankell begins to tell listener/readers something about Latvia and its suspicion of Russian residents in their country. Along with more freedom to pursue economic growth is the rise of a drug trade and criminal activity. Mankell’s story infers illegal activity is exacerbated by Russians who resent Latvia’s independence from the U.S.S.R. However, with greater freedom comes crime as well as improved economic opportunity. One reserves judgement about whether Russians are the primary cause of drug activity in Latvia because breaking the law is characteristic of all nationalities under all forms of government. The characterization of Russians as the cause of the illegal drug trade in Riga is possible. However, it is the same question one must ask themselves about America and the origins, causes, and persistence of its drug trade.

Freedom entails the pursuit of what one wants out of life. Money, power or prestige are goals of most (if not all) human beings.

However, those goals need to be based on equal opportunity. This is not to say those goals should include criminal activity, but only education offers a chance for all to understand the difference between right and wrong. When equal educational opportunity is available to every person in the world, they may pursue what they think is in their interests. This, of course, is not a world that exists or can exist because personal interest is not the same for everyone.

Getting back to Mankell’s story, Latvia is challenged by its new freedom from the U.S.S.R. The suspicion of Russians is undoubtedly a truth about Latvian culture based on Latvia’s former life as a part of the U.S.S.R. Whether Russians are the criminal master minds of the drug trade is not the point. The point is that human nature requires a reason for everything that happens in a culture. The bad experience of repression by the U.S.S.R. may make Latvians suspicious of every Russian in Latvia. It is similar to Trump’s vilification of immigrants and how that ignorance resonates with some Americans.

Mankell and the author of “The Lilac Girls” are worth reading or listening to if you plan a trip to the Balkans. Traveling to other countries is more interesting because of what writers of fiction and history have to say.

TRAVEL

Understanding our place in the world as a democratic nation is the real value of travel.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“The New Tourist” Waking Up to the Power and Perils of Travel

By: Paige McClanahan

Narrated By: Paige McClanahan

Paige McClanahan (Author, journalist, world traveler.)

“The New Tourist” offers a mixed message about travel outside of one’s own country. As a journalist, paid for her travel, Paige McClanahan explains the power and peril of travel in a way that misses the point. She explains the power of travel as an economic benefit to travel writers and countries which travelers visit. One peril she notes is the destruction from tourists who damage pristine natural environments because citizens of a host country are often not accustomed to crowds of travelers. One who travels and writes of their adventures encourages travel to exotic places that may or may not be prepared for high tourist traffic. Unpreparedness is partly due to host countries interest in the economic benefit of tourist visits but are disinclined to spend potential profits on preparation for high tourist traffic that may not arrive.

Like the Maui wildfires in 2o23, better Hawaiian’ preparation may have saved 102 lives and the beautiful town of Lahaina.

Ironically, travel writers like McClanahan are partly to blame for writing of great travel experiences they have had as tourists. They make a living by writing about their travels around the world.

There is a balance between tourist satisfaction and host countries’ benefit but finding the balance is a work in progress that may not begin before damage is done.

What McClanahan misses in her book, is the great benefit of traveling to learn about other cultures.

From personal experience, I have been surprised by natives of other countries who know so much about life and what their personal experiences have meant to them. In Africa, a native guide explains the night sky in a way that reminds one of a college astronomy course. In the former Yugoslavia, an older person explains how much she misses Tito as the ruler of her country. Visiting Turkey’s Cappadocia, one visits an underground “city” meant to protect Christians from people of another faith. In China, the incident of Tiananmen Square is told by a young man in a way that makes one understand authoritarianism carries a threat. In India, one is overwhelmed by the gap between the rich and poor, the monuments of a great nation’s antiquity, and the remnants of British colonization. In Thailand, you find there are citizens who admire their king, others that revile the army that is running the country, and youth that want change. A traveler learns of the killing fields of Cambodia and the mine fields left behind by America and Vietnam as a reminder of America’s folly in believing the lie of falling dominoes. These are a few examples of what can be learned by travel to other countries.

McClanahan briefly alludes to some of cultural benefits of travel, but her book focuses more on travels’ economic benefits for writers and host countries.

Understanding our place in the world as a democratic nation is the real value of travel.

IMPERIAL ELITE

Kaplan’s last chapters make a powerful statement about what America should do to meet today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“Earning the Rockies” (How Geography Shapes America’s Role in the World)

By: Robert D. Kaplan

Narrated by: William Dufris

Robert Kaplan (American Author, freelance journalist and foreign correspondent.)

The first chapters of Robert Kaplan’s “Earning the Rockies” are a travel memoir about America’s growth from 13 colonies to 50 states, but the last two chapters are a considered view of America’s turbulent history and what its role should be in the world.

Kaplan explains he comes from a working-class family born in New York City.

Kaplan was raised on the East Coast. His father was a local truck driver. However, his son became a world traveler who served in the Israeli Army and worked as a freelance writer for major publications. His travels and professional reporting experience undoubtedly influence his opinions about America’s role in the world.

Kaplan’s book begins with memories of his beloved father who talked to him about many things, one of which is a belief that “Earning the Rockies” requires one to work to make a living before traveling across the country.

Kaplan writes an apocryphal story of traveling from the east to west coast of America. In reflecting on his journey, he recalls the history of America’s growth as a nation state. He writes of white settler’s displacement of Indian tribes, a journey to the northwest by leaders of the Mormon church, and America’s growth and assembly of 50 states.

In his travels, Kaplan recalls:

1) America’s territorial growth with the Louisiana purchase,

2) confrontation with Mexico to expand America’s southwestern border,

3) Civil War for union rather than separation, and

4) Mormon and other pioneer travels on the Oregon Trail to see and settle the Northwest.

America becomes an economic giant, protected from foreign interference by two oceans.

In the creation of this American geographic giant, many territorial, political, and economic conflicts were resolved. Kaplan’s suggests America’s economic growth is based on force and compromise, the keys to America’s future in the world.

Kaplan’s American heroes are George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and George H.W. Bush. He adds the extraordinary insight of Ambassador George Kennan in his analysis of Russia. Kaplan notes other great leaders, but these four Presidents and one diplomat are examples of how American leaders use force and compromise to enhance the power and prestige of democracy in the world.

Kaplan explains prudent use of force and compromise is how the west was won and how America became an economic hegemon, a power and influence in the world.

Union of America’s States was perpetuated with force, while compromise continues to ameliorate the wrongs done to Indians and Blacks in America. Those wrongs will never be removed but compromise inures to the benefit of future generations.

Kaplan argues there is an imperial elite in America, similar to what were the elite and influential intellectuals of ancient Greece.

Many of these elites graduated from Harvard or other ivy league schools. (There is an “echo chamber” risk when too many leaders are educated in the same ivy league school.) Along with this imperial elite, he suggests America’s sea power is as important today as it was for the Greeks in antiquity. Sea power widened the influence of Greece just as it widens the influence of America today.

China is working toward a similar goal with its expansion of aircraft carrier and warship production.

Prudent use of power and compromise will expand the influence of every country that has hegemonic ambition. The operative word is “prudent”, i.e., navigating life with a thoughtful eye toward the future. Of course, there is a difference between China’s and America’s political prudence, but each is able to draw on resources that can change the course of history. The question becomes which has a system of government that can prudently use force and compromise to achieve peace and prosperity?

China’s and Russia’s education system leans toward communism which has not had the same level of success as capitalism.

America’s imperial elite is largely educated in American’ ivy league schools. Kaplan suggests, to the extent that these elitists grasp the importance of using force and compromise through democratic capitalism, the world has a chance for peace and prosperity.

Kaplan notes there is less geographic advantage for America today because of technological interconnectedness.

However, interconnectedness cuts both ways. Force and compromise have wider influence with technological interconnectedness. Whether today’s imperial elitists are prudent in their use of force and compromise is most important. Kaplan strongly suggests America should build the Navy to be a symbol of force and presence around the world. However, leadership of the many as opposed to the one as in in China, Russia, or any autocracy seems equally important.

Kaplan’s last chapters make a powerful statement about what America should do to meet today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

TRAVELING

Steve Hely’s travels give one a sense of adventure and camaraderie.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“The Wonder Trail”

By: Steve Hely

Narrated by: Steve Hely

Steve Hely (Author, screen writer, co-executive producer for the Veep tv series, also appeared as an actor on tv sitcoms like “The Office” and “30 Rock”.)

“The Wonder Trail” is an entertaining tale by a sitcom television writer who chooses to take a trip south. He travels through Mexico, the Panama Canal, and South America. He travels on the cheap to give the young an idea of what to do on a summer vacation. Hely’s writing profession is on display as he offers a “being there” experience and a laugh.

Traveling away from the U.S. should be in every young or old American’s experience. Those who visit other countries give perspective to life and how people are more alike than different.

“The Wonder Trail” shows human nature is the same, though the color of life is hued by the cultures in which we live. The desires of life or death are closely related, if not the same. As Hely travels, he recalls books he has read to give perspective and depth to the experiences of his journey. From Mexico, down through Chile and the southern tip of the Western Hemisphere, Hely tells of fellow travelers, the sites he visits, and the native citizens he meets. Every nation visited is accompanied by vignettes about its history. From the Mexican city of Oaxaca to Mayan ruins in Central America, to Patagonia, listeners are introduced to many of America’s southern border countries.

Hernan Cortes (1485-1547, died at the age of 61 or 62.)

Hely notes Hernan Cortes’s ruthless reputation for destroying temples of what was the Aztec capitol. Cortes became a ruthless symbol of conquest and European colonization.

Mexico City came from a city-state called Tenochtitlan which was a spec of land in the middle of a lake in 1325. Cortes, an infamous Spanish conquistador, razed Tenochtitlan to the ground in 1521 and created a Spanish colonial capital he named Mexico City.

Hely reflects on the lost language of the Aztecs and the many ruins buried beneath Mexico City’s thriving metropolis. Translators have deciphered some of the texts of the Aztecs that reveal the sophisticated pagan culture that was lost when Cortes colonized the country. Hely notes the Aztecs practiced human sacrifices to their gods.

Hely’s travels give one a sense of adventure and camaraderie. He notes how his favorite experiences are with other people, particularly Australian groups and some adventurous unattached women who choose to travel alone. Having traveled with an Aussie guide in Australia, I would agree with Hely’s suggestion that Aussies are among the best travelling companions.

Hely’s journey ends in Patagonia, a territory under the control of Argentina and Chile. Having personally traveled to Antarctica, the point of debarkation is Ushuaia, the capital of Tiera del Fuego in Patagonia. Ushuaia is not mentioned in Hely’s book, but it is a beautiful village/city on the southernmost port of the world. The Drake Passage to Antarctica is not for the faint of heart because of the rolling sea. It’s worth the voyage because of the grandeur of ice flows, whale watching, and penguin excursions.

THE LOUVRE

Audio-book Review
 By Chet Yarbrough

Blog: awalkingdelight)
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Louvre (The Many Lives of the World’s Most Famous Museum)

By: James Gardner

Narrated by: Graham Halstead

James Gardner (Author, art and literary critic.)

James Gardner is an art and literary critic based in New York and Buenos Aires. His writing has appeared in publications including the “New York Times”, the “Wall Street Journal”, and the “New Republic”.  

View from the top of Louvre Museum in a beautiful sunrise over Paris

Having visited the Louvre a few years ago, it seems worth listening to James Gardner’s book about one of the world’s greatest museums. It is a surprise to find the Louvre dates to the 12th century. It began as a walled fort to protect Paris but was expanded when King Philippe Auguste decided to build a castle at the wall next to the Seine River.

The Louvre was originally planned as a fortress to protect Paris.

The origin of the name Louvre is a mystery. Gardner notes some thought it came from an association with a wolf hunting den; others thought it came from a Saxon word for watchtower (lauer) but no one knows for sure. The Louvre was neglected for several years after Louis XIV moved to Versailles. Some work was done, but King Louis’s architect spent most of his time on the new Versailles residence.  

Gardner explains the remains of King Auguste’s castle foundation can still be seen today.

The Louvre became the home of King Francois I in 1528.

In 1550, the sculptor Jean Goujon created the caryatids (sculpted female figures as column supports) inside Francois I’s Louvre Palace.

The Louvre remained a royal residence until 1682 when Louis XIV moved to Versailles.

Gardner notes, it is after the French Revolution that the Louvre becomes classified as a museum.

The National Assembly of the nascent government republic opened the eight-acre site as a museum in 1793 with a collection of 537 paintings. Most of these paintings were from royal residences or church-property’ confiscations. Famous paintings like the Mona Lisa were not exhibited until 1797, just as Napoleon rises to power.

It is not until Napoleon Bonaparte’s 1799 coup d’état that a serious renovation of the Louvre is undertaken.

Bonaparte makes the Louvre his royal residence in Paris. Vivant Denon became the first director of the Louvre. He was a diplomat under the bourbon kings, Louis XV and Louis XVI, and then appointed director of the Louvre by Napoleon after his Egyptian campaign (1798-1801). Denon had been with Napoleon in Egypt. Denon was displaced during the Bourbon Restoration because of his association with Napoleon. Not much was done on the Louvre during the Bourbon Restoration.

Vivant Denon (1747-1825. artist, writer, diplomat, author, and archaeologist.)

Napoleon III (1852-1870 reign, first president of France, became last emperor of France–deposed in exile. Nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte.)

Napoleon III undertakes a grand renovation of the Louvre with the building of its two major wings. The “Pavilion Denon” is dedicated at the Louvre by Napoleon III in the 1850s. Napoleon III employs Louis Visconti to design the Louvre renovation but he dies in 1853. The Visconti plan is executed by Hector Lefuel. It connects the old Louvre Palace around the Cour Carree with the Tuileries Palace to the west. The two major wings and their galleries and pavilions are completed during Napoleon III’s reign.

Francois Mitterrand (President of France 1981-1995)

WWII may have been the death nell of the Louve if it had not been for the cleverness of the French and the tacit cooperation of a German officer. The final chapters address today’s view of the Louvre and the renovations made by French President, Francois Mitterrand. Mitterrand carries the torch of French freedom and appreciation of art in the most elaborate Louvre addition since Napoleon III’s grand renovation. Mitterrand hires I.M. Pei to design the Louvre addition.

I.M. Pei (1917-2019, world renown American architect.)

It is known as the Grand Louvre Modernization project which is most noticeable because of the glass pyramid that becomes the primary Louvre entry. The pyramid seems incongruous to this tourist but is reminiscent of the Napoleonic history of France. Napoleon is more than a conqueror of countries. His political ambition entails more than power, though power is certainly a large part of his hegemonic ambition.

Gardner notes Napoleon’s inspired interest in other nation’s traditions, history, and art. His ambition in Egypt entails a consuming passion for understanding its historic rise to power and hegemonic power’s correlation with prominence in the world.

I.M. Pei’s decision is to create a symbol of the power and permanence of Egypt with a pyramid. The Louvre’s entrance is representative of Egyptian and French ambition in the world. As history shows, Egypt and France were hegemons of the world at different times.

Gardner’s book, “The Louvre”, should be on every tourist’s list before visiting the center of Paris. Gardner shows how much there is to see and how little one will understand without spending more than a day, let alone a few hours, at the Louvre.