Reflections
As Russia’s invasion attempt grinds on, Vladimir Putin’s blustering attempts to intimidate those of us who support Ukraine reminds me of visiting Russia’s Baltic Fleet more than 30 years ago. Things are not always as they appear to be in Russia, then as now.
Browsing through photos of a 2007 visit to the vast “Forbidden City” in Beijing got me thinking about how, in imperial China, even the most distinguished foreign visitors to the Emperor were expected to prostrate themselves to acknowledge his supremacy. Imperial officials would ensure that this was done, after which the Emperor would condescend to accept tribute and grant gifts. That got me reflecting on an unrelated event in the US capital a few months ago.
Continue reading “The Art of the Kowtow – From Beijing to Washington”
On a hot mid-morning during a 6-week walk from France to Santiago de Compostela I was grateful to see an enterprising young man selling cold drinks, fruit and souvenirs to pilgrims in the middle of nowhere. His little dog bounded up, wagging its tail and barking so furiously that I couldn’t resist joking “¿No pasarán?” to its owner. He looked startled. “My God” he said, “Do you know what that means?” I did – but not the significance of the day on which I’d said it. Which led to a thought-provoking discussion about the Spanish Civil War, 80 years earlier.
One of many lessons I’ve learned from long-distance travel is to seize any opportunity for stopovers, no matter how brief. They’re a chance for unique mini-adventures, like the 10-hour stop in Jordan and 24-hour stay in Malaysia that I’ve shared previously. Recent events remind me of another stopover, just three months after the trip to Washington described last month – an overnight in Finland’s capital. Ironically, both memories prompt reflections on Friday’s disgraceful episode in Washington and so (trigger warning) I feel compelled to continue a political theme raised last month.
This weekend’s visit to Halifax by the latest and greatest United States Navy aircraft carrier, Gerald R. Ford, has put me in mind of a lesson from fifty years ago. Impressive as these great ships are, and while we can be justifiably awed by the technology, we shouldn’t get over-awed. Let me take you back to 1972 for an example.
Continue reading “Aircraft Carrier vs. Submarine – Exercise RIMPAC 1972”
When Russia’s flagship, Moskva, went to the bottom of the Black Sea on 14 April, it became the first major naval combattant sunk in war since a British submarine fired torpedoes into Argentina’s General Belgrano in the battle for the Falkland Islands, exactly forty years ago today. For me, though, the more pertinent memory of the South Atlantic war is the sinking of the British destroyer Coventry a little over three weeks later (pictured above). Someone I knew was among the dead, and some of the lessons still resonate.
Continue reading “Rhyming Conflicts II – South Atlantic to Black Sea”
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.
(attributed to Mark Twain)
The Croatian “special police” crowding into the hotel bar were singing songs of the notorious Second World War pro-Nazi Ustaše (Ustasha). All were sporting the “skinhead” look, which may be benign now but was once the fashion choice of neo-Nazis. It was late. I was bone-weary. Over the past few days I’d been responding to Croatian “ethnic cleansing” and cease-fire violations. I’d allegedly been shot at by Serbs, although I was pretty certain that it was just some Croat trying to inject a touch of drama into a front-line visit. As the child of parents whose lives had been upended by a Nazi regime, my feelings on returning to the familiar comfort of our hotel to find it full of neo-fascists would be difficult to put into words. But my job was to monitor, so I settled down to nurse a beer and watch.
In preparation for his invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin deployed the flagship of Russia’s Northern Fleet to the Mediterranean. Now, the powerful cruiser Marshal Ustinov stands between NATO’s naval forces (including Canada’s HMCS Montreal) and the Dardanelles, which link the Mediterranean to the Black Sea coast of Ukraine. Twenty-nine years ago the relationship had been very different. Ustinov made a memorably visit to Halifax and conducted friendly exercises with the Canadian Navy before heading on to the U.S. Looking back, there were warning signs even then that if the collapse of the Soviet Union were not handled prudently, sooner or later Russia would become an adversary again. And so it has proved.
Continue reading “Portents of Putin’s Ukraine War – Halifax, 1993”
The Colonel from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was visibly annoyed. How, he said, could I possibly suggest talking directly with American warships when they are simply following orders from Washington, and a constant provocation and threat to Iranian sovereignty! My reply was equally emphatic, although genuinely sympathetic because this was not just a debating position but, literally, a potential matter of life and death. Our resulting animated but cordial discussion extended well into post-meeting teatime. Now, more than fifteen years later, the tragic deaths of 176 innocent civilians aboard Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 are a haunting reminder of that exchange.