A project about artists and their right to express their views freely. D. W. Dot com or to freedom. Once upon a time there was a country the largest in the world in fact it was an empire it was called soviet union shortly before it seventieth birthday it vanished from the map. It. Should be a shape shifter you shave with a good shake youll believe if you take the state over here. The soviet union had been strongly dependent on Commodity Prices but russia in the two thousand was even more so two thirds of russias exports were generated by the oil and natural gas sector. Economy could receive russias economy as a model economy that depends entirely on oil prices everyone just trades new Petroleum Products when the prices are high but if they drop the russian economy has a real problem this is very bad economics among them. To draw its neighboring countries back into its fear of influence russia sold them or oil and natural gas at knock down prices. Small gifts sustain friendships big ones create dependency. Overseas to come on the book russia uses the economy to apply political pressure to stop the former soviet states from moving toward europe this is sort of the universe i use a. Better us is a good example its a buffer between russia and nato and a conduit for russian oil and gas supplies to europe. Socialist would scotians and he she lists of things you think. They are mutually dependent. Russia relies on transit countries like belarus and ukraine which transport gas and oil to europe. There are always been quarrels about transit operations. That are in the. Unexplained oh look i go and glad im here put in have played this dependency game for years. Wants to have things both ways favorable prices and independence from russia couldnt tolerate sit as long as bellerose does not turn towards the west with the monsoon to mco. This is why lucas shank always says that bella looses the little brother and russia the big brother and that we will always be together. These declarations appealed to the russian government. Which means better routes receives considerable economic aid. The russian subsidies account for fifteen to eighteen percent of Gross Domestic Product its. These enormous subsidies have made bellerose relatively stable. But thats because. Over twenty years look at sankoh got about one hundred billion dollars but did nothing constructive with it. It was all stolen. Shows in return russia put pressure on Location Code to allow it to deploy heavy weapons here. And you say this Financial Support has cost us our sovereignty and perhaps even our statehood and that has meant complete absorption into the Russian Army Russian ideology and the russian world. Me. Most brother ruffians still accept the monopoly of their russian neighbors and of left to walk a fine line between solidarity and independence. But georgia was a different case. After the rose revolution it quickly developed into a pluralistic comparatively well functioning country. The tax system was simplified and the Banking Sector and Public Services modernized its cities were transformed. Mikhail saakashvili the new president completely renovated the center of tbilisi. Will decide life the city will soon move after the rez revolution foreign capital began to flow into the country it felt like a new era was coming people had a great visions that our country would become a new switzerland or singapore or that an economic miracle would happen. And a big boom really did start things that were worth a Million Dollars now cost one hundred million apartments in tbilisi were more expensive than in moscow we had an Enormous Growth in our client base and hired new staff who earned really good money. Looking west away from putins russia circus really brought in renowned architects from all over the world the striking New Buildings were intended as a symbol of the new era. But soccers really wasnt only interested in giving the city a facelift he also launched a crackdown on corruption in politics bureaucracy and the Police Thousands of corrupt politicians and state officials were arrested the entire Traffic Police force some sixteen thousand officers were sacked corruption was almost defeated in the first four years. Here actually alasania served as georgias ambassador to the United Nations from two thousand and six to two thousand and eight. But. I would say so. Ports from United States and other western countries to make this inform successful. We have well trained on the nato standards armed forces that are capable of conducting any type of war their military operation. Military wise security wise i think georgia is ready to become the member right now. But theres a political decision that needs to be taken and we understand its also coralie did with the relationship with russia. U. S. President george w. Bush was the main advocate of georgian and ukrainian membership in nato the struggle for the former soviet republics was a struggle over spheres of influence. After the dissolution of the warsaw pact the moscow Led Military Alliance most former soviet republics hope to join nato. Estonia latvia and lithuania became part of the Atlantic Alliance in two thousand and four. Called it for the long in the us russia is actively engaged in democratic liberal reforms and is a liberal economy so where does this pressure on russia come from. People putin has often said that if there are no ideological differences between capitalism and socialism why is nato expanding eastwards what you were not as preserving as i was. At the two thousand and seven Munich Security Conference the conflict came into the open boat incognitos eastern enlarge meant a direct threat to russia at the studios now but whats the illusion for the future a ship would in plano with. Putins aim was to create a defensive ring around russia and he intended georgia and ukraine to be part of it. That would both and it is not in the kremlins opinion that the west has to accept that this is in our National Interest that ukraine should belong to the russian protectorate as well as belarus and probably moldova the whole of trans caucasian should be our protectorate as well from the. Pub or paragon our from the Newspaper Novaya Gazeta is known for is critical and often ironic take on russias leadership but more credible because thats why russia will never let go of ukraine weve got our teeth into it like a bulldog well if the west accepts this if theres a yell to two agreement then well work with europe. The two thousand and eight nato summit in bucharest was dominated by the question of eastern and large might russias objections split the alliance. In the end a compromise was found george urn and ukraine were fobbed off with a promise of nato membership some time in the future. Meanwhile a longstanding can. Looked at the border between russia and georgia was heating up ever since the end of the soviet union two regions a conjoined South Ossetia had been seeking independence from georgia in two thousand and eight People Living on the border became pawns in a bigger game. To do something i get a my burnt out houses over there. I lived like i was in a fairy tale i had central heating a bathroom wine cellar. Thats all thats left to make a lump of metal and a refrigerator. I had to raise my arms and give it all up which i have nothing left. We always got along with the associations we ate and drank together even a borrowed money from each other. But now there is no hope of reconciliation theres no future anymore not a bit of out of love. The border between georgia and russia became the new border between the world powers. Russia banned the import of georgian products the georgians arrested alleged russian spies the conflict was escalating. It was obvious that we were moving step by step into a war with russia i forced saakashvili to call the russian president to diffuse the situation. During this conversation Vladimir Putin told saakashvili straight up that if the georgian government launched military operations against a kazuya and South Ossetia the russians would send in their army. Body mcalinden syria bus because it all would see the bloodshed. Just like. The interests of abkhazia and South Ossetia had long ceased to be the real issue in the conflict and a proxy war was looming. During the night of august seventh to the eighth two thousand and eight this war finally broke out georgia marched into South Ossetia such as really claimed a small enclave was historically georgian. Buttin regarded this as an attack on russia itself and struck back. He would brook no one rest on the edges of his empire especially on what he saw as a frontier with the west. The war against georgia was a demonstration of putins resolve he was intent on keeping as many of the former soviet republics as possible out of the wests embrace if necessary by military force. The war lasted only five days eight hundred fifty people were killed thousands more wounded and twenty four thousand South Ossetians fled the fighting. The russian army penetrated deep into georgia itself the country also lost the support of the west which condemned its attack on the breakaway region. Georgias dream of nato membership was over at least for the moment. Russia drew another lesson from its victory in the caucasus if it wanted to throw its weight around it would need a modern army. That teached there were tactical and logistical problems. We invaded georgia with rusty obsolete equipment the georgian artillery caused a lot of casualties and some of our soldiers panicked when they came under fire when. The russian militarys First International deployment since the disintegration of the soviet union revealed the cracks beneath the surface. The former pillar of the soviet empire had been neglected for decades after the war in the caucasus president Dmitri Medvedev announced a long overdue modernization of the Russian Armed forces. When you more. With. Us do in the crises get he gets acquitted them but nonetheless i mean that i see if you do it its going to shit that would mean that we dont expect a war like this off to twenty twenty five on the assumption that a major world crisis would break out resources would become scarce and people in the most widely differing countries would be starving that russia is so vast and so rich in resources that we face attacks from all sides we must be prepared. To get them over the meaning that. When putin became president russias military budget was just four billion dollars. By two thousand and eleven it had climbed to seventy two billion. The Global Financial crisis in two thousand and eight put a stop to russias recovery oil and gas prices were falling on the Global MarketForeign Investors were concerned about state interference in the economy and the war in georgia. And usually good news is when you can use the Current Crisis has no external cause is the model in which putins regime is founded the distribution of oil revenues has run out of steam youve generated. The gap between rich and poor in russia widened dramatically. Moscow was still doing relatively well but elsewhere people were struggling. The good old days were looking better than ever. With a city d. S. S. That enables this there was still a lot of nostalgia there for the soviet distribution economy or state supported government contracts subsidies and rising social expenditure. Said sir nicholas holbert. But even in moscow people were wistfully looking back to soviet times this nostalgia appeared in many forms for example in the restaurant of the Famous Department store. Some of them are cantinas designed according to the traditional soviet model the cashiers wear bonnets and there are tablecloths and flowers on the tables. What this is the famous vending machine that stood on the streets in soviet times you could buy normal water for one kopek or water with syrup for three. The generation that knew the Old Soviet Union still exists thats why this place is so popular the atmosphere here is familiar to everyone many young people also like to come here they were interested in finding out how their grandmothers mothers and fathers lived what. Was. That in reporting picked up on his country mens longing for a new National Pride soviet symbols and traditions were dug out again red army banners the melody of the soviet National Anthem military parades on red square after an eighteen year interruption on may ninth two thousand and eight a grand parade was staged at the kremlin to mark the anniversary of the soviet victory in the great patriotic war. Propaganda gave putin the aura of a charismatic leader this is his image an old style fight against bureaucracy like the nice song and the bad boy as all good things in the country are attributed to him everything bad to someone else. Fortunately for most of you were you were we all understood that medved yes was just a pure sorrow good when it wasnt seen as an independent politician but rather as putin psychic. In two thousand and twelve flooding near putin became president again. For partly admitted that this had been the plan all along. Putin saw the revival of his country as his lifes work. Here do you think and i see you know about what i feel at night we did you. Give me the idea i were. Put in spreading ruffian colleague Alexander Lukashenko has been in office since one thousand nine hundred ninety four in many quarters his authoritarian style has earned him the name europes last dictator. To lose nobody has talked about free elections and belarus since one nine hundred ninety six elections and belarus are controlled by the government. And their results are pretty determined by the power apparatus. Hes. So bella roost does hold elections but the police and the Intelligence Services do Everything Possible to stifle any opposition. Or. Say a ship is from that is our group which was made up mainly of young people and went to the city center to hear the results in front of the Election CommitteeBuilding Solutions is. Suddenly a police car the street in front of us. They didnt care that i was a president ial candidate and had absolute immunity and. With and when i tried to get around the car and continue on as a grenade suddenly exploded and shooting broke out. Yeah because of years of knowing that i mean suddenly i was on the ground under boots in the snow. Somebody screamed theyre killing the president ial candidate. Someones face was burnt and in this madness i lost consciousness them. Yesterdays and then a. Nuclear i have survived the assassination attempt but his ordeal continued when he was kidnapped from the hospital i think the democrats are reasonably needs he knew i was in the hospital emergency room lying naked on a drip when i was suddenly dragged by my feet back out into the cold. And it wasnt minus ten but minus twenty five degrees celsius outside you dont expect to survive that the new shoes. Was sentenced to two years on charges of incitement to mass riot he was only released from prison after diplomatic pressure from europe and suffering a stroke. The regime is built on the forces that carried out the orders to crush any peaceful resistance in two thousand and ten that is. Back in russia the rigged parliamentary elections of two thousand and eleven were leading to growing dissatisfaction especially among the middle classes the kremlin reverted to the tried and tested formula repression and violence a little the college delude you too many people who were particularly active entrepreneurial and well educated no longer felt they had any prospects in this country. The sense of stagnation of status was quite strong dissatisfaction with the situation led to mass demonstration as. The biggest protests in russias recent history started just a day after putins reelection hundreds of thousands took to the streets to demand more transparency and accountability and an investigation into the allegations of electoral fraud. The governments response was brutal soviet style conditions were resurrected whoever is in forests is against us critics were branded enemies of russia or enemies of the state opposition activists were placed under surveillance. In belarus soviet style conditions had never been done away with in the first place. He says. His person who is under surveillance has to live with a number of limitations you i have no right to leave the country. I have no right to hang out in places where alcohol is served because. I have no right to take part in large public gatherings. They decided to silence me so to speak. Now im sitting here like a fool. Brother rowsley an activist popular you know grand offer is just twenty nine years old but has been jailed several times. Because of the yemeni shoeless was this my friends and i decided to do something funny to set up a resistance organization. Our first action was to take stuffed toys including teddy bears and put them in a busy spot opposite the government building was. Painted various funny placards the slogans as if the toys themselves were demonstrating in. Your Community One of the posters for example said freedom for political prisoners. Another was carried by a stuffed toy with an im missing that said the cops took out my eye. So they were funny things but our action prompted some serious feedbacks and. People began to add their own toys when it even star