Got caught up in a demonstration in Barcelona last night that I had no intent to be involved in. Catalonia is an autonomous region in northeastern Spain. Yesterday the Spanish Supreme Court ruled nine pro-independence leaders guilty of sedition and handed lengthy prison terms of 9-13 years. Thousands of pro-separatist protestors, of which majority were…
View More
Macedonia is famous for its rule by Alexander the Great, king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. Located at the center of the Balkans, the region was later ruled by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Crusaders, the Ottomans through the Balkan Wars, and later became part of Yugoslavia through WWI and WWII. After the…
View More
Kosovo is Europe’s youngest country, as well as a contested territory. Populated predominantly by Albanians, the Kosovar Albanians declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move hotly disputed by some and still not universally recognized. Half of the world including Albania, Turkey, and the US have recognized Kosovo’s sovereignty, while the other half including Serbia, Russia, and…
View More