Rhys Davis > Recent Status Updates

Book 1: Miss Brooke

Cymeriadau:
- Dorothea/ Miss Brooke: prif gymeriad, etifeddes 20 mlwydd oed, crefyddol i’r carn
- Celia: ei chwaer, tebyg iawn ond yn fwy rhesymol
- Mr. Brooke: eu hewythr nhw, twp ac yn hunan-falch; fe fabwysiadodd nhw ar ôl marwolaeth eu rhieni
- Sir James Chettam: a young suitor, golygus a diddorol i Celia omd ddim i Dorothea
- Mr. Casaubon: hen offeiriad/ ysgolhaig eglwysig, deniadol iawn iddi

classic social story & poignantly cutting commentary!

Korea & Japan
- Island has prevented invasion
- maritime people
-always hoped to expand
-invaded indochina in WWII
-overstepped with Pearl Harbor
-treaty with US took away right to build much self defense
-Japanese overstep these boundaries more and more
-Remain allied to the US because of fear of China and no natural oil supplies.
-Population is rapidly shrinking while government tries to expand foreign policy

Korea & Japan
- N.K. poverty stricken, morally corrupt, communist, set for collapse
- Very little info for outsiders
- K attacked by J in 1910, overtaken
- US choice of division on the 38th parallel led Russians to believe that the north was intended to be communist, as they had drawn the same line years ago
- 2 Ks “still at war”
- S stronger
- South Korea has issues with Japan, aligns itself with US

India and Pakistan:
- Hate each other!
- Pakistan continuously full of strife
- Formed after the Brits left India: Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh
-Threat to each other because they have nukes
-Each area too diverse to be united
-Pakistan: Muslims, India: Hindus&Sikhs
-Pakistan maintains relations with Afghanistan to have it to fall back upon in case of war with India
-Pak played both sides in the War on Terror

- Constant Israeli/Palestine divide, ownership of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in question
- Israel regards Jerusalem as an indivisible capital
- Palestinians covet Jerusalem because of its connection to Islamic belief
- Citizens of the Gaza Strip surrounded by enemies
- Iran developing nuclear weapons, has secure borders
- Turkey is closest to Western society, non EU
- Sykes-Picot is breaking, with blood

- Many displaced/mismatched ethnic groups: the majority of Jordan’s population is ethnically Palestinian.
- Civil war constant in Syria and in Lebanon
- Ongoing issue of the “Islamic State” (Al-Qaeda, ISIS: jihadists)
- Jihadists in Iraq have demonstrated that being a non-Sunni is akin to a death sentence.
- Most oil in Iraq found in Kurd and Shia areas

Middle East
- Political lines drawn by English and French diplomats, Sykes & Picot in 1916
- Historically full of strife
- Split between Sunni and Shia Muslims is a fundamental issue.
- Iraq splintered by its population of contrasting groups
- Turkey, Syria, and Iraq all struggle with the Kurds, an ethnic group which may one day form its own nation, Kurdistan.
- Saddam Hussein killed up to 100,00 Kurds 1980-90s

Africa:
Developed in isolation from Eurasia
Less developed, less powerful
Physical landscape a barrier to technological development
Political lines drawn by Europeans, causes many ethnic conflicts.
The DRC is a huge problem; not developing, always in war, full of natural resources - “Africa’s World War”.
Water wars are imminent.
Chinese vie for influence
Rampant corruption
Many “eggs without chickens”

W. Europe:
-Poland would be made into a bridge between Russia and Europe in the event of war
-America holds much European power
-Poland🤝UK
-Russia🤝Serbia
-War will come from “some damned fool thing in the Balkans”
-EU and NATO are both fraying
-France and Germany “hugging each other so they cannot land a fist”
-Brits naturally separate, “memory” of power
-Economic Recession~anti-immigration…

W. Europe:
- Well-fed and separated by many rivers, caused many diverse cultures to develop.
- N. Europe is traditionally much richer than S.
- France is a naturally strong power: crop land and water to the N. and S.
- Spain limited by geography (Pyrenees).
- Greece is historically poor and must spend loads on defense.
- Financial~Social tensions between Germany and Greece
-Tension between Euro family and Russia…

Failure in Vietnam made Washington more cautious about foreign entanglement, remains secure in interests.
Greatest rival to power is China.
Keen to speak out against events rather than to act, especially among our allies.
History of the current century may be written in Asia and the Pacific.
American Treaty with Taiwan incites war if the Chinese invade.
No longer strives to grow democracies on a global scale.

“Speak softly and carry a big stick”
- In securing full East to West reach of the landmass, the United States has secured itself against invasion.
- Louisiana Purchase yielded French Land, Mexican-American War and conflict with Cuba yielded the rest of the country.
- The United States is the primary military power of NATO, no decisions is made heb their approval.
… more to follow…

- Historically struggles to control many of its outer borders:
- Tibet (full of nationalists)(borders India)
- Xinjiang (historically Muslim) (Uighur)
-Taiwan (recognized by some as a separate state, coveted by China)
Han Chinese workers pour into places that originally held populations of other ethnicities, supporting Chinese government ideas.
China is building a sea force, itching to be seen on the global arena.

China:
- Composed of 22 Provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 special administrative regions.
- Controlled and largely populated by Han Chinese
- Borders secured by the Gobi Desert, the Russian Far East, the Yellow, East, and South China Seas, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, Tibet, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan
… more to continue!

Russia:
- No natural borders; country must expand outward across Northern Europe to maintain control over its boundaries.
- No natural warm water ports, continuously posturing for access in other areas such as Crimea, causing literally endless “border disputes”.
- Lots of oil in the East, supplies much of Europe. This makes it impossible for many smaller countries to join international groups such as NATO.

👍🏻

this book is outdated and now I’m bored and I don’t want to finish it

Not as boring as it could be, but not as intriguing either…

delivered like an intriguing chat with a friend over lunch! it feels so new and yet so personal:)